Terrible Things Happen to Akane
by Abicion
Summary: This particular trainwreck was written over the course of 6 months in 2009 or so. I had to migrate it here due to Writing com's new "Randomly delete anything submitted by non-paying users without warning" policy.
1. Chapter 1

It was a strange scenario. The Five Columns, once regarded as the wise and reserved moderators of the Otome system, one day abruptly announced their intentions to forcibly unite all the countries of Earl in a hostile takeover and proclaimed war against the world. They even managed to take the nearby Castle Windbloom by surprise while its queen was performing diplomatic duties. Neither the ruler or her Otome were able to re-enter the kingdom after the Columns had closed Garderobe Academy, their main base within Windbloom, for their own use and invaded the castle. However, the planet's royalty had still scoffed at idea of surrendering to an enemy using such a ridiculous campaign. After all, how long could five snobbish girls keep up a war of this magnitude?

Akane sighed to herself as she reminisced on the events up until now. Earlier that morning, Chaldea's intelligence network had detected one of the five Columns launching from Garderobe Academy, apparently en route to Chaldea's castle. Akane floated idly in her country's airspace, donned in her Meister Robe with her tonfa at her side, awaiting the incoming attack. To a casual observer, she probably looked like she was going to freeze to death at such an altitude, as the Pure Heart Malachite combat suit left Akane's belly and upper back rather exposed. However, the nanomachines that powered the outfit kept a constant supply of comfortable warmth coursing through her body, in addition to making her very flesh impenetrable to virtually anything but the weapons of other Otome.

Akane was wary of the idea of possibly being forced to kill her former instructors and classmates in battle, but she reaffirmed herself by thinking of the kingdom she had to defend. Emperor Kazuya Krau-xeku was her Lord as well as her lover, and his life was at stake if she failed to defend the kingdom. They would surely be married after Akane had served long enough to retire. She was fighting for his life as well as her own happiness.

Akane was brought out of her wandering thoughts when the mechanical feline ears protruding from her hairband began to twitch. Although playful in appearance, they functioned as directional microphones and gave Akane the ability to hear incoming sounds at a great distance. The nanomachines of the Meister Robe bounded them to Akane's natural senses, and to her it was just like having a second, more efficient set of ears.

Akane turned toward the source of a distant, jet-like whistling sound. She noted a small dot flying towards her in the empty blue sky. The dot eventually became a small, purple-clad figure, and the indistinct figure eventually became Meister Shizuru Viola.

The most battle-experienced of the Columns, Shizuru wielded her signature extending naginata firmly in both hands. Despite a sudden sense of anxiety, Akane raised her tonfa in a combat pose and quickly engaged in battle.

* * *

><p>Attack: Go to Chapter 2<p>

Use caution: Go to Chapter 3


	2. Chapter 2

The metallic rings on Akane's Robe suddenly glowed in a brilliant gold light, and she charged forth to intercept Shizuru at full speed. Unfortunately, her battle cry was cut short with a loud yelp as she was struck in the temple by one of the high heels of Shizuru's own Meister Robe. Akane had flown straight into a perfectly timed kick, and the force of the impact left her reeling through the air. After shaking off a short headache, she regained aerial control just long enough to hear the sound of the chain links in Shizuru's naginata separate and extend directly toward her. By the time her vision cleared, the blade of the naginata had reached impact range. Akane cried out in pain as the weapon easily impaled her slightly above the navel and emerged from her lower back.

It was over almost as quickly as it had began. Akane felt a sudden cold sensation overwhelm her body, and she looked down to see her Meister Robe-clad feet begin to disintegrate into a flurry of green particles. She surrendered to her fate and spoke softly as her eyes began to fill with tears.

"Kazu... I'm sorry I couldn't protect you..."

Akane's eyes closed and her head sleepily rolled downward as her entire body was engulfed in green flame. Shizuru answered her enemy's agony with only a rude smirk.

"Stupid girl. If you cared so much about that fool of an emperor, maybe you shouldn't have forgotten everything I taught you."

The victorious Column's expression turned into a sinister sneer.

"Chaldea is ours."

Shizuru impatiently twisted the hilt of her weapon. The force of this movement caused Akane's quickly disappearing remains to violently explode in a shower of green sparkles, and Shizuru casually reset the naginata into its compact form before flying off toward her next target.

In Chaldea's castle, the court was suddenly taken by a wave of shock and sorrow as Emperor Kazuya Krau-xeku fell limp on his throne and disappeared in the same pattern of green flame and sparks as his defeated Otome.

And that is the story of how Chaldea fell in the War of the Five Columns.

THE END.


	3. Chapter 3

Akane stood her ground and allowed Shizuru to fly closer toward her. The metallic rings on Akane's ankles, wrists, and neck began to glow softly as she prepared to parry Shizuru's attack. She raised her tonfa to her face in a boxing position and continued to steadily float in place. When Shizuru was finally in melee range, Akane quickly repositioned herself a few inches lower in the air and raised her tonfa above her head. Shizuru's naginata swung through the air and only clashed against the metal wall Akane had created with her own weapons. Shizuru was thrown back in a short recoil, giving Akane an open advantage to attack.

* * *

><p>Attack: Go to Chapter 4<p>

Wait for another opening: Go to Chapter 11


	4. Chapter 4

Akane dashed through the air toward the stunned Shizuru and threw a tonfa-packed series of punches at her. Akane alternated between attacking with her left and right hands, and Shizuru painfully grunted each time she was slugged with the end of one of the tonfa. By the sixth hit, Shizuru had staggered into a daze and lost the grip on her naginata. The weapon disappeared shortly after falling from her hands.

With her opponent now dazed and unarmed, Akane saw she could now safely end the battle. After a second of remorse, she reminded herself of her duty as an Otome and what was at stake. The edges of her tonfa began to glow, creating an intense heat that turned the weapons into short blades. Shizuru remained dizzy as Akane plunged the tip of one tonfa through the form-fitting material of Shizuru's Meister robe, impaling her heart.

Shizuru's eyes fluttered into awareness as her body began to disintegrate into green fire. The defeated Otome looked into the eyes of her rival and spoke in struggled breaths.

"Good girl. I have a present for you ..."

Shizuru suddenly reached out with her quickly disappearing arms and pulled the younger Otome against her. Without further hesitation, she locked Akane into an intimate kiss in her last breaths. Akane's eyes widened with surprise at this move and, after the initial shock of feeling Shizuru's tongue roughly brush against her own wore off, she struggled to pull away. She had heard rumors that Principal Shizuru had certain "unorthodox" interests in the female attendants of Garderobe, but she was embarrassed to find herself the object of elder Otome's apparent lust at such an unlikely time.

Sadly, Akane probably would have put up a better fight if she hadn't thought she was only the target of a dying woman's final impulses and was aware of the far more insidious purposes of this ceremony. Known only to the Five Columns and a few others, the nanomachines of a Column Otome were fully encoded with the thoughts and memories of the user. Under certain situations, a Column could essentially transfer part of her soul into a lesser Otome at the moment of her death. Garderobe had designed this as a last-minute safety feature in the event a new official Column couldn't be quickly named. Traditionally, the Otome who received the transfer was a willing participant, and the Column's consciousness would only linger through her mind until a permanent replacement could be appointed, but Shizuru had no qualms against destroying Akane's mind and using her body as a puppet as long as it was useful.

Akane anxiously continued trying to struggle out of the kiss, but her fate was already sealed. In less than a second after their lips made contact, Akane's nanomachines began silently reacting to an electrical signal sent by Shizuru's. When Shizuru broke the kiss, Akane was blushing out of embarrassment and still hadn't sensed anything strange. Before the last parts of Shizuru's floating head and neck disappeared into green sparkles, her lips curled into a gentle but eerie smile and she weakly spoke.

"Thank you."

Akane sighed as she lowered her arms to her sides and her weapons disappeared from her hands, returning to their stasis mode. As the last sparkling flecks of Shizuru's remains dissolved into the air, Akane peacefully floated in place and pondered whether she should include this last unusual incident in her combat report. Within a few moments, however, she began shrieking in pain and grabbed the sides of her head. Her cries shortly subsided into soft groans as she tried to shake the sudden sensation of intense pressure out of her head. Eventually her hands lowered back to her sides, and her groans slowly turned into gentle laughter. A cheerful smile followed; the same smile Shizuru had given in her final moments.

"Mmm. I hope Natsuki doesn't mind my new look."

Shizuru was now completely in control, with only bits and pieces of Akane's scattered memories acknowledging the original girl's existence. As Shizuru pondered her next move, the radio receiver in the Pure Heart Malachite earring began to beep. It was a Chaldean radar officer.

"Meister Akane?! Meister Akane Soir?! Come in, please!"

Shizuru cleared her throat, reminding herself to talk in Akane's softer tone to make her charade work.

"I'm here, sir. I've defeated the Bewitching Smile Amethyst."

A collective sigh of relief was heard from the radar room.

"Yes, we saw her GEM signal disappear from the monitor. But then your GEM also faded for a few seconds. Are you alright? The Emperor would like you to return at once, as he's been very worried about you."

Shizuru took a moment to respond. It would be much better to return to Garderobe to have the Pure Heart Malachite GEM re-wired to the Column system. It would be a waste to assassinate Emperor Kazuya now, as it would destroy Shizuru's new body in the process.

"I'm unharmed, sir. Hmm... If Kazu... I mean, if the Emperor doesn't mind, I'd like to investigate Garderobe's airspace first. We can't be too careful with these renegade Columns."

What remained of Akane's original consciousness was proving to be quite useful to Shizuru. She congratulated herself on pulling off the bashfulness of Chaldea's Otome so well.

"You're allowed to proceed to Garderobe, my lady. Please report any findings, and avoid combat if possible."

Easy enough, Shizuru thought. She certainly wouldn't have to worry about having to fight any of her fellow Columns since she could easily prove the transfer was complete. She turned toward Garderobe's direction and flew at full speed.

* * *

><p>It was the morning of the second invasion of Chaldea. Shizuru sat in front of her bedroom mirror preparing herself for her mission that day. She was still in her nightgown, carefully brushing her hair. It had been several months since her battle with Akane, and she had let the short bob cut grow a little past shoulder length. In a few more months, Shizuru thought to herself, it would be back to its original beauty. Or as close as her current body would allow, at least.<p>

It was just after she had placed the hairbrush back on her dresser that she noticed a single tear was falling from her eye in her reflection. Shizuru reached for her cheek and was taken by surprise when she only felt soft, dry skin. Suddenly, her reflection stopped mirroring her reactions entirely, and instead looked downward and placed its hands nervously in its lap.

"Please... don't do it..."

Shizuru continued to react with shock as the reflection spoke to her in a frightened voice. However, she quickly realized what these events meant. It seemed Akane's mind had remained intact enough to emerge as a sort of moral conscience. In this case, it had materialized as a hallucination trying to talk Shizuru out of her mission. When the shock wore off, Shizuru stared into her reflection mockingly.

"Hmm? I'm surprised you're still in there. You're stronger than I thought."

Akane only continued to sulk.

"You're going to kill Kazu..."

Shizuru sighed. So this was the whole reason Akane was making this much of an effort. She pushed aside this inconvenience with ease, and smirked at her timid reflection.

"Yes, I am. Do you have any better ideas?"

Akane lifted her head and stared at Shizuru, pleading as her eyes continued to well with tears.

"Shizuru, please! If... if you let me complete this mission, and I talk to Kazu myself, I can talk him into surrendering so you don't have to kill him!"

Shizuru was quick to make profit from Akane's despair. If they took the Chaldea Emperor as a prisoner of war, and maybe even swayed him to their side, this could give the Columns somewhat of a political advantage in addition to their military advantage. After thinking to herself, Shizuru lifted her hand to her chin and coyly pretended to wonder. It was all an act, of course. She knew she had Akane on a very short leash as long as the Emperor's life was at stake.

"I wonder... could you really do that, Akane? These invasion missions are becoming tiresome for me, and you ARE a better melee fighter than me, I suppose. I wish your Robe didn't have such clumsy weapons."

Well, at least it was partially true, Shizuru thought. She had grown bored of carrying out most of the Columns' dirty work, usually being the one to invade a kingdom and either dispose of their Otome or inject her with the loyalty serum Garderobe had developed. Watching someone else take up the task would be interesting at least, and there was no chance of Chaldea surviving an Otome attack in their current state either way. The Columns had nothing to lose in this mission. In addition to this, since Shizuru had been one of Akane's close instructors in Garderobe Academy up to her graduation as a Meister, the scheming Column had a bit of an ego to stroke. It would be a pleasure to see if her former pupil would put her knowledge to good use and make Shizuru a proud teacher.

The reflection wiped its tears and nodded eagerly as Shizuru resumed her act.

"But the castle will be heavily guarded since you've been missing for some time, Akane. You'll be using your Robe to slaughter your own countrymen, the very people you were contracted to protect, to reach the Emperor. Can I really rely on you?"

Akane turned her head and peered to the side with doubt, then stared forward again with a new determined flare in her eyes.

"Even if I have to doom myself to Hell, I'll do it to protect Kazu."

Shizuru smiled with satisfaction.

"Very well. We can take the Emperor of Chaldea as our guest. As a reward for your obedience, we won't harm him in any way while he's in Garderobe."

Akane smiled brightly.

"Thank you, Meister Shizu-!"

Shizuru coldly cut off her reflection's cheerful words.

"But I'll be carefully monitoring you while you're in control. I'm well aware of your scandalous history with the Emperor, and I'd obviously prefer that this body retains its qualification as an Otome. If I sense you're doing all of this just for a little hanky panky, our arrangement is forfeit."

Akane sported a noticeable blush, but quickly responded.

"Th-that's not it at all! I realized back when Meister Mahya kept stopping us, that part doesn't matter. I'll be happy just being with Kazu. I'll wait as long as I have to as long as he's alive."

Shizuru rolled her eyes.

"How touching. But what if you're wrong, and he doesn't surrender?"

With those words, Akane's energy quickly faded and she returned to her sulking position.

"Then... I'll kill him..."

Shizuru sneered into the mirror.

"You better. You'll have to share part of my own consciousness for this to work, of course. So many of your original braincells were destroyed in my nanomachines' takeover that you would practically be a vegetable if I let you assume full control now. I'd be surprised if you would be able to do anything other than stare at the ceiling and say that stupid boy's name all day. Needless to say, if you disobey your orders, I'm taking over, and I'll make sure there won't be enough of your mind left to even pull off this little trick."

Akane stared toward her lap as she weakly replied, afraid of angering Shizuru and compromising the arrangement entirely.

"I... understand..."

Shizuru crossed her arms and nodded.

"Good. I'll let the other Columns know of our change in plans."

Shizuru knew she had quelled Akane's pleas when the hallucination ended and her reflection began mirroring her actions again.

* * *

><p>It was now midday, and the invasion was about to commence. Shizuru stood on Garderobe's launch platform, dressed in the Pure Heart Malachite Robe. When her GEM's radio beeped and a young female voice gave her the clear to launch, she closed her eyes for a few seconds and seemingly meditated. When they opened again, Akane Soir was standing on the platform and had regained control of her body. As the energy drives on her wrists, ankles, and neck began to spin and she levitated off of the platform, she heard Shizuru's voice speak to her. It was like a soft, deep whisper in her ear.<p>

"Remember our deal..."

Akane nodded to herself as she reached flight altitude. The secondary, cat-like ears on her hairband twitched a few times as they monitored for distant noises in the sky. When she was assured she had a clear path and there were no incoming surprises for Garderobe, she dashed through in the air in the direction of Chaldea.

* * *

><p>Chaldea was instantly thrown into a state of panic upon receiving reports that Garderobe had launched a second attack against them. They had lost their only true defense when Meister Akane had disappeared, and they would never be able to contract another Otome with the academy closed. The idea of another Column attack against the kingdom's current defense was nothing short of a nightmare. Despite this, the army of Chaldea had a country and an Emperor to protect, and they still had to try their damnedest.<p>

Akane reached her target within the hour. She found the castle walls to be heavily fortified and anticipating her arrival. The heels of her Robe made a soft clap as she landed on the stone walkway leading toward the castle, and she quickly summoned her tonfa to deal with the closed concrete wall in front of her. After using her augmented strength to punch a carriage-sized hole through the barricade, she stepped through the entrance and entered the castle courtyard, where a large group of standard castle guards quickly charged her. After some hesitation, Akane reminded herself that, if she wasn't the one who did this, the Columns would certainly kill the Emperor without regard. She took a deep breath as her tonfa's edges began to glow and activated their bladed mode, and then she dashed toward the swarm.

Akane let out a battle cry as she cut through her attackers. Her weapons practically gave her claws that pierced all forms of armor, and she only needed to swing in the general direction of a target to guarantee a quick death. Wave after wave of soldiers fell as Akane proceeded through the courtyard. The swords they drew against her were useless, as they failed to even scratch any of the bare skin her Robe exposed.

After clearing out the courtyard, Akane burst through the castle doors with another forceful punch from her tonfa. More soldiers followed, and the blue carpet leading to the throne was quickly dyed with red. The final defense came from three machine gun-wielding guards who stood directly in front of the throne, shielding the trembling Emperor. These final guards stepped forward, and round after round was unloaded toward the attacking Otome. Akane's expression remained determined as she gracefully walked into the hail of gunfire and bullets bounced off of her curved form, leaving only small traces of bullet residue on her Robe and skin. When she stepped into melee range, she eliminated the three guards with a single wide slash. Akane made note of the fact that the only people in the throne room who weren't dead or disabled were her and the Emperor; the latter of which had now scurried into a corner behind the throne.

Akane's tonfa disappeared from her hands before she slowly approached the terrified young man. When she stood in front of him, he began questioning her in a mix of fear and anger.

"Akane, what the Hell are you doing?! After you disappeared, there were reports you started attacking the other kingdoms! You've been using your Robe, but my ring hasn't been connected to you since you left to investigate Garderobe! The nobles are convinced you joined the Columns! What's going on?!"

Akane lowered her head in shame.

"It's all true. After I defeated Shizuru, the Columns offered me her place..."

Blood was already on her hands. There was no point in revealing the more complicated truth.

"But I joined them to protect you, Kazu. The other Columns wanted to kill you just like the other rulers, but I've convinced them to let you live in Garderobe. Can't you see it's the only way we'll survive this war together?"

Akane spoke softly and tried to hide her nervousness with a gentle smile.

"Come on, I'll take you back with me."

Akane offered an open hand to the trembling Emperor. Sunlight shining through the throne room windows caused the glossy material of Akane's gloves to give off a slight glow.

* * *

><p>He surrenders: Go to Chapter 5<p>

He resists: Go to Chapter 10


	5. Chapter 5

Emperor Kazuya quietly looked up toward Akane. He saw a warm sincerity in her eyes, and he was quickly reminded of when he first met her when she was a Coral Otome. He reached up and grasped Akane's hand, but then gave her arm a sudden tug toward the ground. Akane was taken by surprise and stumbled into a kneeling position, allowing the eager emperor to lock her into a deep kiss. Quickly overcoming her shock, Akane closed her eyes and returned the kiss. When the two broke apart, Kazuya spoke with new inspiration in his voice.

"Alright, Akane. I'll come with you."

Akane felt a sudden surge of relief overwhelm her body. She rose back to her feet and began guiding Kazuya out of the castle walls. Once they were outside, she lifted him into her arms and began flying back to Garderobe.

* * *

><p>Some time had passed since the capture of Chaldea and the imprisonment of their Emperor. After Akane had proven her loyalty with flying colors, Shizuru eased her influence over the obedient girl and allowed her to control her body almost everywhere. The only exceptions were when the Columns Natsuki and Shizuru met privately, where Shizuru would peacefully place Akane's consciousness in a sleep-like state as she temporarily took control of her body. Akane didn't think much of these events and respected Shizuru's privacy.<p>

Akane was officially one of the Five Columns and carried out many more of the group's attack missions on her own will. She reminded herself of Kazuya's safety each time she was forced to defeat a fellow Otome, and she visited her beloved when she had time away from her busy duties as a Column. On one particular day, the five girls met in Garderobe's briefing room to discuss the status of their energy system. They sat at a round table, each dressed in their respective Meister formal uniforms. Nao turned to the leader of group and spoke.

"So, how is it?"

Natsuki spoke with dread as she finished reading the last page of the packet in front of her.

"Bad. Just as we thought, we're overtaxing the system. The Corals and Pearls aren't a problem, but Fumi isn't capable of supporting the number of Meister-level connections we've made her adopt. And with the current rate of defectors joining us, it's only going to get worse. While the loyalty serum injections are keeping the resisters under our control, the physical effects aren't as beneficial as we had hoped, and all of the Meisters are still depending on their Robes for combat ability. The technology department is projecting that the Founder could actually be destroyed if we keep this up for more than another year."

All of Garderobe's technology was powered by a single source: The cryogenically suspended body of Fumi Himeno, who the Columns regarded as their Founder. When a retired Otome who had given birth eventually died, the nanomachines left in her body began producing a form of energy that could be harnessed by technology such Garderobe's control system. This power was used to give all of the younger Coral and Pearl Otome, as well as the Columns and a select number of other Meister Rank staff, the ability to Materialize their Robes and weapons. Traditionally, all other Meister Otome were personally connected to the life forces of the rulers and nobles who contracted them and put no burden on the Garderobe's Founder, but the Five Columns had been provisionally connecting defecting Meisters to the Column subsystem so they could dispose of the subsequently defenseless government leaders without the worry of losing their own forces. The equipment that Fumi herself had designed before her death hundreds of years ago was the only Founder system currently in use on Earl, although a second system constructed by an enemy country had briefly been used in a war only a few years ago before being destroyed.

Nao responded to Natsuki with an annoyed tone in her voice.

"That doesn't leave us with very many choices. We'll have to go with Mahya's plan and commandeer a second Founder."

Natsuki agreed and peered across the table toward Akane.

"Akane, if you were to attack tonight, would you and Shizuru be ready?"

Akane was familiar with the plan, as it had been discussed in detail in previous briefings. The retired Meister Yukariko Steinberg had recently had a child and, since she lived with her family in the Column-controlled country of Windbloom, she was deemed the safest target for assassination. Akane had been asked the same question by Natsuki several times in the past few weeks, and each time Shizuru's voice gently rang in her ear and recommended to hold the mission off for a few more days. Akane thought Shizuru was acting strangely, but never questioned the matter further.

After Akane silently communicated with Shizuru by turning her eyes to the side as if in thought, she looked back toward Natsuki and responded.

"I'm prepared. Shizuru says she thinks now is the time to strike, too."

Natsuki nodded as she closed the folder of papers in front of her.

"Good. We'll begin preparations to bring the second Founder online while you're gone."

With the plan finalized, the Columns stood up, bowed to each other, and left the room.

* * *

><p>Akane was perched in the wooden rafters of Yukariko's bedroom, clad in her white and blue Meister Robe as she waited for her opening. It was a modest but spacious home, as Yukariko's husband was a renowned court artist in Windbloom and brought the family a generous budget. The sun had set some time ago, and Akane's eyes glowed with a soft gold tint as she relied on the Pure Heart Malachite Robe's night vision feature to quietly monitor the darkened room. Before long, the cat-like ears on Akane's hairband heard the distant sound of Yukariko putting a baby to sleep in another bedroom. Yukariko's husband was still downstairs and had promised to come to bed in a little while, as he was deeply invested in his latest painting.<p>

As Yukariko unsuspectingly stepped into the bedroom, she carried a lamp that caused her short brown hair to shine in the dark. While she placed the lamp on a dresser and walked toward the wardrobe in the corner of the room, Akane quietly summoned her tonfa and swiftly left her hiding spot.

Yukariko reacted instantly, avoiding Akane's diving slash with an elegant backflip. After landing, Yukariko reached for a hidden pocket on the back of her dress, and her hands returned with a set of small knives in their grasp. She threw a knife at her attacker, and Akane quickly sidestepped the projectile. Akane felt a weak sting brush her skin as she avoided the attack, then looked down to notice a tiny scratch on her belly that produced a thin trickle of blood before her active nanomachines healed the wound. She was struck with disbelief, and, upon closer observation, she noticed the remaining knives in Yukariko's hands were highlighted with a weak green glow. A civilian was wielding Robe-piercing weapons.

Akane's thoughts wandered back to the classified reports that suggested small traces of Garderobe technology had leaked to the Black Market, and the surprised girl had never imagined herself to be on the receiving end of such a rare threat. As Akane began to understand what she was facing, Yukariko spoke with a gentle but determined voice.

"Did you monsters really think I wasn't expecting you? It's not hard for someone who used to work for the academy to figure out they can't sustain their current forces on a single Founder forever."

Akane growled in anger, having lost her advantage. The two figures then took their respective combat stances in the dimly-lit room. Both women were ultimately fighting for the same thing: Yukariko wanted nothing but to peacefully live with her family, and Akane held on to her dream of settling down with Kazuya. Each fighter held a silent respect for their opponent's determination, and the two leapt into combat.

Akane took another swing at Yukariko with her glowing bladed tonfa. The older fighter ducked the attack and stabbed upward with a set of daggers held in the gaps between her fingers. Akane jumped over Yukariko's arm, and the Robed Meister waltzed through the air so she landed facing Yukariko's back. She lifted her arms into the air and swung the blunt side of her tonfa toward Yukariko's head as if she was swinging a great axe. Yukariko jumped in the air and interrupted the younger girl's attack by kicking her in the chest with the back of her legs. Akane toppled backwards to the ground as her tonfa clattered to the floor and her opponent spun around to loom over her.

Yukariko had one knife left in each hand and went for the killing blow. Akane frantically looked to her sides for a way to counter the attack. One tonfa was in her reach to her left, and one of the throwing knives Yukariko had dropped was sitting on her right.

* * *

><p>Reach for the tonfa: Go to Chapter 6<p>

Reach for the knife: Go to Chapter 7


	6. Chapter 6

Akane rolled to her left and grasped one of her familiar tonfa. She raised the weapon between her and Yukariko, using its wide edge as a shield to block the attacking retired Otome. Yukariko's knife broke in two at the hilt as it forcefully met the younger opponent's heavily armored weapon, but Yukariko was quick to make a second attack with the knife in her opposite hand while was Akane was still prone. The weapon pierced the Pure Heart Malachite Robe's lofty right shoulder and sunk into Akane's arm before Yukariko roughly removed the blade.

The injured girl squealed sharply as her right arm was quickly overwhelmed in pain. She abruptly dropped her tonfa again and cupped her wounded shoulder with her left hand as she sat up. She hastily used her legs to push herself back and distance herself from Yukariko, dragging her bottom and the long striped ribbons that hung from her lower back across the wooden floor along the way. She stopped only when she backed into the bedroom wall. The determined former Otome remained merciless, however, and only picked up two more knives before walking forward to finish the weakened girl off. In desperation, the helpless Otome briefly extended her left hand and created a small, translucent white forcefield around herself. This caused Yukariko to stagger a few steps back while Akane returned to nursing her shoulder injury. Her nanomachines would heal the wound in time, but the battle was hopeless as long as she could only use one arm. With no other options, she jumped to her feet, activated the anti-gravity drives on her ankles and wrists, and burst out of the bedroom windows and into the sky while Yukariko remained staggered. The abandoned tonfa automatically disappeared from the bedroom floor and returned to stasis when Akane reached a certain distance from Yukariko's house. Akane became nervous when she thought of how Shizuru would scold her for such an embarrassing retreat, but her fears were slowly put to ease as her alter-ego remained silent during the trip back to Garderobe. Akane continued cupping her shoulder and occasionally wincing while she flew through air.

When Akane arrived at her destination, she deactivated her Robe and returned to her formal uniform. In a short time, she was in Natsuki's office giving her debriefing. She stood before the Column leader's desk with her silk-gloved hands politely folded at her waist. Her sleeveless Meister uniform revealed that only a tiny pink scar remained of the injury, and it would soon heal naturally.

"I'm sorry, Lady Natsuki. Yukariko was much more prepared than we thought and took me by surprise. If you let me go back, I'll surely be ready to defeat her next time."

Natsuki responded in an official tone.

"That's quite alright, Akane, but thank you for your efforts. We'll just have to use our backup plan."

Akane was taken aback by Natsuki's second statement. She tried to think back to the previous conferences she participated in, and nothing came to mind that would explain this "backup plan" her fellow Column was referring to. Assassinating Yukariko was the only solution she was aware of. Before she could ask Natsuki what this meant, she raised one of her hands to her temple and softly groaned in pain. She recognized this as the same sensation she felt when Shizuru first invaded her mind, and she was overcome with dread before abruptly blacking out. When Akane had stopped shuddering in pain, she looked toward Natsuki again with a gentle smile on her face. Natsuki spoke again while having no doubt who was in control of younger Otome's body.

"Are you sure about this, Shizuru? There are a few other Founder candidates we could look into."

Shizuru replied in a deeper version of Akane's voice.

"Yes, Lady Natsuki. My nanomachine medical scan showed this body became quite fertile today, and I'd rather not take any more risks. Besides, Akane tried her best for us, so she deserves a chance to redeem herself."

Natsuki paused before answering, struggling to hide a slight feeling of jealousy toward Shizuru's resolve in the matter.

"Very well. Proceed with your mission."

Shizuru bowed slowly before leaving the office.

* * *

><p>The imprisoned Emperor Kazuya sat up in his bed as he heard the door of the guestroom slowly open. Akane had come to visit him in the middle of the night, and the young Column shyly stepped through the bedroom door. She was dressed in a short, white satin camisole; the straps of which were perilously sliding from her shoulders. She quietly walked across the carpeted bedroom in her bare feet before slowly crawling onto the bed.<p>

"Kazu, I can't wait anymore..."

The Column Otome's petite form was now straddled over the resting Emperor. Kazuya first acted with uncertainty, but then smiled and brushed his hand through Akane's long brown hair as he quietly replied.

"Neither can I, Akane."

Shizuru congratulated herself for catching the foolish boy in her trap. Now feeling assured her plan would be successful, she began helping her prey undress himself. She then slithered out of her nightgown and diligently proceeded with her objective.

When the deed was done, Shizuru rolled her head back and let her hair fall behind her shoulders as it was glossed by moonlight shining through one of the room's windows. She didn't mind the few loose strands that clung to her sweat-soaked forehead as she breathed deeply.

"Mmm..."

She moved back to her original straddling position and delicately ran her fingers down the exhausted Emperor's chest as he peacefully inhaled and exhaled. When she felt she had carried out the charade for long enough, she gently placed her hand on her belly, just below her navel, and curled her lips into a satisfied smirk. She made no attempt to hide her own voice when she spoke.

"Thank you for your generous donation, my lord. Unfortunately, you're no longer needed."

Kazuya struggled to keep his eyes open, as he was practically intoxicated with pleasure. In his current state, he paid no heed to the sinister tone and thought Akane was only making some bizarre joke. He replied to Shizuru's strange words amidst a fit of drunken laughter.

"What are you talking about, Akane?"

Shizuru's fingers returned to tracing the drowsy young man's features, and her hands gently made their way up to his throat. When she was in the correct position, she used her extensive combat training to lock her hands in place and quickly snap the unsuspecting Emperor's neck, ending his life in a single swift move. With the mission a success, Shizuru dressed back into her nightgown and quietly walked toward the door of the guestroom. She closed the door behind her and left the scene for the room attendants to clean up in the morning.

* * *

><p>Akane and Kazuya brought Garderobe a healthy baby girl as the remaining four Columns continued to rage war across Earl. It was quickly decided that the little one would be adopted by a family loyal to the Columns so she would be raised as a future Otome. The Columns were grateful that the deceased Chaldean Emperor and his Meister had given two very valuable gifts to Garderobe, pending Akane's installation as the much-needed new secondary Founder.<p>

Shizuru transferred her consciousness and the Pure Heart Malachite GEM to another suitable body shortly after giving birth; one that was a virgin and restored the active Columns' number to five. Just as Shizuru had expected, Akane's mind had been virtually destroyed in her mental takeover, and her body was already but an empty shell without Shizuru's influence. When the consciousness transfer was complete, Akane's heart was only able to beat for a few seconds on its own will.

Akane's body was prepared by a group of Pearls, leaving her stripped bare before being delicately loaded into a holding tank beside Fumi. It was decided that Akane's hair would be trimmed into the shorter bob cut style she had preferred before becoming a Column, and, despite the series of events that led to her being in this state, many Otome noted how her face displayed an expression of motherly serenity in the clear liquid of the containment tank as the metal protection shell closed around her.

When the new system was brought online, the Columns and technicians of Garderobe were relieved to see Fumi's nanomachines were continuing to feed energy through the system without any interference from Akane. However, the crowd attending the ceremony was astounded when it quickly became apparent something else was happening. In the graphical display, the energy signatures representing Fumi and Akane were beginning to playfully intermingle. The two separate waves were then stabilizing in unison, as if the two Founders were weaving a beautiful lullaby together. As a result, Garderobe's monitors showed the two system cores' energy limits reaching far past expectations. In an event no one had even hypothetically anticipated, Fumi and Akane's energy patterns were in perfect harmony and silently amplified each other's output as they acted as dual generators in a new, single energy system. The resulting exponential increase in resources meant the Columns could at least triple their current forces without putting any painful burden on their two Founders.

Motivated by this discovery, Garderobe knew it had cleared the last hurdle it needed in order to win the War of the Five Columns. Nothing could stop their campaign now.

* * *

><p><strong>Terrible Things Happen to Akane: Akane After<strong>

_(author's note: Depending on your interpretation, this epilogue may or may not be fanon.)_

Akane's daughter is adopted by Yukariko and Ishigami and becomes a Coral in the same class as her adopted older sister. The two girls have a friendly rivalry, but get along very well.

Assume the Columns denied they sent Akane to kill Yukariko before they asked her to raise the baby. Or the Columns figured Yukariko still held some form of respect for Akane and wouldn't harm her innocent daughter out of revenge. Or the Columns really just didn't give a crap. I'm still trying to figure out the logistics for that.

The Columns win the war, extend Windbloom's boundaries, and rename the country Tigris. Since the Columns are in control, it's basically run like a Spartan kingdom with Garderobe as their main military academy. They divvy up the rest of the world to random nobles who joined them during the war.

Yukariko returns to Garderobe's staff with a desk job when she realizes things got weird after Akane tried to kill her. She pieces together what really happened to Akane and Kazu by going through the school's files and listening to word around the campus.

Yukariko secretly tells her two daughters everything on the eve of their entry into Garderobe. Akane's daughter decides to still enroll anyway so she can stop the injustice and change the system from the inside. I'm imagining her as a Char Aznable / Suzaku Kururugi type character, just without the trying-to-kill-everybody-with-a-giant-rock / being-inconceivably-stupid-in-general parts

When Akane's daughter graduates, Yukariko uses her political pull in the school to give her the first experimental GEM designed to fully integrate with Garderobe's dual core system. The daughter's Meister Robe is mostly burgundy-colored and has a miniskirt and a capelet, sort of like a nuclear-powered Little Red Riding Hood. It is very sugoi and kawaii just like my Japanese animes. Each pleat of the skirt has Akane's old Trias #1 insignia on the end. It has a... shortsword or something for its main weapon; I haven't decided.

Yukariko decides to be the daughter's contract master to test the new GEM. She has somewhat of a guilty conscience for basically dooming Akane to be exploited as a Founder, and she figures the least she can do is put her life on the line to sponsor Akane's daughter to make up for what the previous generation of Columns did to Akane and Kazu.

The daughter's Robe isn't as powerful as everyone had anticipated even when they temporarily connect it to the Column subsystem, despite the Founder system itself still running like normal. At the same time, Garderobe is trying to create a new series of Five Columns specific to Akane's core, but something seems to be wrong because her monitor keeps refusing all of the candidate Meisters' connection attempts and only continues cycling energy with Fumi. When the staff tries connecting Akane's daughter to Akane, there are a couple of seconds of compatibility before Akane's daughter is locked out like all the other Column candidates.

War breaks out again and some country invades Tigris like in the Otome anime's prologue. The current Columns are slaughtered, and things look pretty bleak when Yukariko leads her two daughters down to the Founder chamber.

Akane's daughter does some speech about how she can't imagine how much Akane is really suffering, but hopes her mom is proud she became a Meister and wants to fight so she can make her parents' deaths mean something and yadda yadda yadda. She touches Akane's metal capsule and gets zoned into Akane and Fumi's dimension. Akane and Fumi silently "talk" to each other without moving their mouths while the daughter watches, then Fumi nods like she's in approval of whatever Akane said.

Akane's daughter re-emerges from her daydream and hears a voice coming from her GEM say "Column link accepted." She somehow realizes it's a robotic version of Akane's voice and starts crying. Yukariko notices her contract ring isn't connected to the daughter anymore even though her Robe is still working. The symbols on the daughter's skirt light up and nobody's sure what it means.

When the daughter returns to the battlefield in her Robe, the pleats of her skirt separate and fly off of her belt as remote weapons. Smaller, arrowhead-shaped remote weapons also split off of the the tassels of her capelet. They fly at whatever needs to be dead and promptly push back the invasion.

Akane's daughter becomes a sort of reserved Warrior Empress for Tigris since it now lacks leadership. Her first order of business is loosening a lot of the grip the Columns had put on the rest of the world.

Yukariko's daughter becomes Akane Column #2 and functions as Akane's daughter's Lieutenant.

And then Nagi suddenly appears from his mystical invisible castle, boastfully announces "I'm sorry to inform you you're not the only one with access to a Twin Drive System," and reveals he's secretly developed his own dual Founder generator using Nao and Rosalie's skanky slut bodies. Then everybody dies.

THE END.


	7. Chapter 7

Akane quickly rolled to her right and reached for the knife. As a result, Yukariko missed her target and stabbed into one of the planks of the wooden floor. Out of instinct, Akane closed her eyes and made a desperate underhand stab toward her opponent. The short dagger plunged through Yukariko's dress and entered her side a little below her armpit. The blade was just long enough to rupture one of her lungs, and she collapsed face-first to the ground after letting out a painful grunt.

Akane spent a few moments panting on her knees and collecting herself, then reached toward Yukariko to roll the defeated woman onto her back. Akane watched as Yukariko came to terms with her oncoming death and a soft happiness began to show on her face. She weakly spoke as she smiled.

"You've turned out to be a fine Meister, Akane. It's just as we had all hoped for you when you became the lead Trias."

Akane's eyes began to well with tears as happy memories as a student at Garderobe swept through her mind. Yukariko slowly reached up to brush her tears away, then spoke again.

"Don't worry. I don't disagree with what the Columns want. It's the only way for true peace. I hope you can forgive me for valuing my own happiness slightly more."

Akane felt warmth slowly fade away from Yukariko's hand as the dying woman's eyes closed the final time.

"If you use me to create more Corals, please raise them well so they can end this war... quickly..."

Akane nodded and grasped Yukariko's falling hand in her Robed fingers as she replied.

"I promise, Lady Yukariko."

Yukariko's final breath left her lips as her face froze in an expression of peaceful rest. Shizuru remained quiet throughout the whole event, and Akane spent a few more minutes in silence kneeling beside her fallen opponent. When she was finished, Akane lifted the former Otome's limp form into her arms, walked toward the large double windows of the bedroom, and silently returned to Garderobe. Once it was delivered, Yukariko's body was respectfully prepared for the new Founder system. She was stripped of her clothes and her body was gently loaded into a liqud-filled holding tank beside the Founder's. Yukariko was finally locked in place by the protective metal shell that closed over her tank.

When the new Founder came online, the Five Columns and Garderobe's engineers were relieved to see Fumi's nanomachines were continuing to feed energy through the system without any interference from the new secondary core. Yukariko was supplying a suitable amount of energy to the Garderobe network, and she was sharing a significant portion of Fumi's burden. All monitors showed consumption levels were now safely below their new limit.

After a period of well-needed rest, the Columns returned to their briefing room to discuss their next objective.

* * *

><p>"Do you REALLY think she can do it?"<p>

Nao spoke impatiently to Shizuru across the circular table. The Five Columns had assembled in Garderobe's conference room again to review the latest crisis their war against the world had brought them. While their energy problems had remained resolved, the artificial lifeform known only as "Miyu"-a machine in the form of a blue-haired woman thought to be the last remnant of an ancient society-was recently spotted by Garderobe's spy network traveling with the exiled Queen Mashiro and her Meister. Since Miyu had never been defeated or even wounded in battle, she was thought to be virtually invincible.

Although she was a neutral entity in the world, the Columns were fearing Miyu would soon officially begin fighting for Mashiro's side and bring certain doom to Garderobe's forces. Named the Administar Protocol, Miyu had the ability to discriminately deactivate or reactivate any Otome's powers anywhere in the world if she saw fit. This ability took some time to prepare, however, and it opened Miyu to attack. With Akane's consciousness peacefully slumbering, Shizuru answered Nao's question in regard to who would be the one to destroy Miyu and salvage her Administar hardware.

"She's the only one who has a chance, Nao. The Pure Heart Malachite Robe is faster than any of ours, and she's more aggressive than me when her heart's in the right place. Not to mention, nobody expected her to become more than an eyecandy Meister for a backwater nation, and Rosalie's run wasn't much better, so Miyu's data on the GEM is probably incomplete. If Akane knows what she's getting into, and she knows what's at stake, there's a small possibility she could actually defeat Miyu."

Natsuki stepped into the conversation with uncertainty in her voice.

"But Miyu will have backup. The Blue Sky Sapphire will certainly be there when we ambush her, and Mashiro may have found more allies by now."

Shizuru responded with a reserved determination.

"Then you four can split them up. I'll send Akane to attack Miyu, and it will be one-on-one. With the Administar system under our control, the other kingdoms will have no choice but to surrender when they realize their Meisters can no longer fight for them. It's all very simple."

Nao sighed while brushing her palm against her face.

"Yeah, Shizuru, breaking up the group and beating Miyu so we can screw up everyone else's powers is simple... until you get to the part where you actually have to BEAT Miyu."

Shizuru tilted her head and smirked.

"Well, do you have a better plan? We can't just wait until Miyu is swayed to Mashiro's side and uses the Administar against us."

Nao sighed in defeat as the other three Columns dropped their heads in deep thought. After careful meditation, Natsuki looked back to Shizuru and addressed her alter-ego.

"What do you think, Akane?"

Shizuru closed her eyes for a moment. When they opened again, there was a fearful expression on Akane's face. She gradually came to realize if the Administar Protocol was used against Garderobe, the campus would be defenseless and a bloody invasion would mean almost certain death for the apparently Column-aligned Emperor Kazuya. Her face to changed to a serious stare before responding to Natsuki.

"If Shizuru agrees, I'm ready. I want this fighting to end."

The decision was made to use Shizuru's plan. The Five Columns left the room silently wondering if they were sending themselves into a suicide mission.

* * *

><p>Akane stood on the opposite end of the battlefield staring regretfully at her silent opponent. She was facing down Miyu on the edge of a dry canyon where the ambush had taken place as the other four Columns battled Miyu's colleagues in the air above. She took a few steps forward with her Robed feet before addressing her adversary.<p>

"I'm sorry Miyu, but I need your Administar system! It's the only way to end this war!"

Realizing what this would mean, the seemingly disinterested machine allowed the skin-coated armor panels of her left arm to break apart and transform into a shining silver blade. This was the Anti-Materializer, a wrist-mounted sword capable of piercing any form of defense with ease. The artificial woman peered toward Akane with a vacant expression as her nervous opponent positioned her tonfa in a battle stance.

Akane was the first to activate her flight rings and pounce forward as she let out a battle cry. She pulled her arms back to deliver a crescent slash with her tonfa, but Miyu parried to the side with rocket speed to avoid her. In retaliation, Miyu jumped in the air and tried to strike Akane with a spinning kick. In a move Miyu had never calculated, her human opponent ducked her attack and struck her extended leg with the blunt side of one of her dual weapons, causing a loud metallic clank to echo through the canyon. Although undamaged, Miyu was briefly taken aback by this unexpected evasion and began accessing her subroutines for alternate methods to attack.

When Akane dashed forward to attack again, Miyu abruptly disappeared from Akane's view as if she had teleported. Akane's Robe-augmented reflexes allowed her to quickly track Miyu's new position, however. After Miyu continued to use this method of evasion for some time and allowed Akane to exhaust herself in futile attacks, she appeared directly in front of her opponent and catapulted the surprised Meister into the air with a rough uppercut from her right fist.

Akane was now struggling to regain aerial control. Her eyes widened in horror when she realized Miyu had jumped off the ground after her and extended her bladed arm to impale Akane through the waist upon closing the distance between them. In a moment of desperation, Akane quickly shifted her weight slightly outside of Miyu's trajectory. When the two fighters met in the air, Akane was floating in an inverted position as Miyu missed her soft, fleshy mark by a few inches. In retaliation, Akane slashed the bladed side of her tonfa toward Miyu's extended arm and amputated her deadly weapon. Miyu's expression suddenly turned to one of unnaturally human shock, and Akane stared upside-down at the sizzling crater remaining of Miyu's left arm for a second. The damaged circuits inside of Miyu suddenly exploded in a mighty fireball that blasted the two female opponents yards apart.

When Akane came to, she was lying on her stomach on the floor of the canyon. With her vision slightly blurred, she spotted Miyu recovering from a similar position across the field. Only a charred, molten stump remained of Miyu's left arm after the explosion, and the iron maiden's circuits were slowly entering self-repair mode as her remaining arm transformed into a small laser cannon.

Akane tried to lift herself to all fours off of the dry stony ground, but ended up wincing painfully and toppling back down when she felt excruciating pain shoot up her side. She inspected herself to notice shrapnel from Miyu had cut her a little above her right hip, and a large tear on her skintight Robe and a flowing wound had resulted. At the same time, her eyes regained their focus and saw that her tonfa were on the ground beside her, hopelessly damaged from the explosion and resulting crash and needing to be repaired before being used again. Shortly thereafter, the Pure Heart Malachite GEM began to beep loudly in a complaining tone, signaling that it would soon deactivate Akane's Robe and enter an emergency recharge mode to mend the damage it had sustained. Akane realized this process would leave her in her powerless formal uniform when Miyu made her next attack. In her last few moments in Robed form, she peered across the canyon floor to notice that the detached but undamaged Anti-Materializer was sprawled across the ground a few paces in front of her. In a desperate, painful burst forward, Akane reached for the weapon so she could make a final attack.

Suddenly, in the back of her ear, she could hear Shizuru's voice speak with a sincere worry.

"Akane, if you don't think you can do this, let me take over."

Akane made her decision as she lifted the Anti-Materializer from the ground.

* * *

><p>Attack as Shizuru: Go to Chapter 8<p>

Attack as Akane: Go to Chapter 9


	8. Chapter 8

"Okay, Shizuru. I'll leave you in charge."

Akane gently submitted control of her body to her alternate consciousness, and Shizuru lifted the Anti-Materializer from the ground in one hand. She dashed toward Miyu to make her final strike, but was rudely stopped by a high kick from the recovering machine woman. After roughly dropping the Anti-Materializer and toppling back to the ground, Shizuru painfully climbed back to her knees. Miyu casually stepped forward and pointed the barrel of her energy cannon between Shizuru's eyes, causing the injured Otome to raise her empty Robed hands in surrender. In a final act of cowardice, Shizuru forced Akane's consciousness back in control of their shared body so she would be the one to face death.

Akane was frozen by the realization of her impending doom. The last thing she heard was Miyu's cold voice saying something that deeply perplexed her.

"I thought you learned not to cross me after last time, Miss Higurashi."

Miyu emptied her arm cannon's anti-matter payload, leaving the young Column's headless corpse to slump to the dry canyon floor. The remains of the defeated Pure Heart Malachite dissolved and disappeared into the air as floating green particles, and Akane's connection to the Column subsystem in Garderobe was silently released.

Despite the Columns being quick to retreat and promote a new fifth Column to replace their loss of Akane and Shizuru, they had awakened the sleeping giant in Miyu's consciousness just as they had feared. Whatever mercy the android had within her circuits before her fight with Akane was now gone, and she quickly used the Administar Protocol to disable Garderobe's Otome forces and reclaim the country of Windbloom for Queen Mashiro. The night of the invasion, Miyu slaughtered even the youngest defenseless Corals that resided in Garderobe, and the captive Emperor of Chaldea was unable to escape the same death as his hostesses. After reclaiming Windbloom's throne with a heavy heart, Mashiro restored the sovereignty of the countries the Columns had conquered.

The War of the Five Columns was over, and the Columns had lost.

THE END.


	9. Chapter 9

"I can finish this myself, Shizuru!"

Akane lifted the Anti-Materializer from the ground in both hands with an angered determination in her voice. With her Robe's last ounces of energy, she lunged forward to finish Miyu. Although the mechanical opponent attempted to block the oncoming attack with a standing high kick, Akane was able to use her speed to evade to the side and return with a swirling slash that severed Miyu's ankle and head. Now with nothing controlling it, the decapitated steel frame of Miyu fell lifelessly to the canyon floor behind Akane.

Akane dropped the Anti-Materializer to the rocky ground and fell to one knee. Her Robe abruptly deactivated, revealing a large tear in her white and gray Meister uniform in the same place as her wound, and she clutched her injured side as she panted and winced. In a few more moments, she succumbed to exhaustion and slumped to the ground.

* * *

><p>Garderobe's hospital staff were uncertain if their hardworking Column was going to survive. However, Akane's sleeping body soon stabilized, and the academy's doctors noticed a strange process was keeping her alive. The nanomachines that stored Shizuru's consciousness were sacrificing their energy to heal the frail girl, and all signs of the invading personality were beginning to fade. Shizuru briefly awoke in the hospital bed to weakly explain to the other Columns how she couldn't bring herself to further impede on Akane's freedom after everything the resting Otome had done. She was slowly erasing her presence from Akane's body so the nanomachines could solely support Akane's consciousness in place of the damage Shizuru had inflicted on her mind. After bidding a particularly tearful farewell to Column Natsuki, Shizuru allowed herself to pass on so Akane could regain her life. When Akane awoke a few hours later, she found a smiling Kazuya looking over her bed in relief, and she requested the medical attendants to trim her hair in the shorter bob cut style she preferred.<p>

During the Pure Heart Malachite's rehabilitation, Garderobe's scientists extracted the Administar Protocol from Miyu's recovered cybernetic brain and began disabling the combat capabilities of Mashiro's forces. It wasn't long before the remaining countries of Earl realized their Meisters could no longer Materialize and began to pre-emptively surrender to the Columns. The world was soon unified under the Columns, and, with no sovereign kingdom to rule over, the former Emperor of Chaldea decided to become a citizen of Windbloom and situate himself in a house close to Garderobe's gates.

When she fully recovered, Akane retired as a Column and became Kazuya's wife. However, as per her earlier oath with Yukariko, she continued to work for Garderobe and soon took on Headmistress duties, training new Corals and Pearls on the etiquette of an Otome and loyalty to the current generation of Columns. Although she lost her qualification as an Otome after consummating her marriage with Kazuya and could no longer Materialize for training exercises, she was still able to play an important role in her students' written studies and taught them basic combat form. Headmistress Soir became a beloved teacher and brought a gentle dedication to her students' growth for the rest of her life, departing from them only during a few short episodes of maternity leave.

The War of the Five Columns ended with the Columns' victory, and the story of the Pure Heart Malachite ascended to mythical status as the new Column-controlled empire prospered.

* * *

><p><em>Epilogue:<em>

Akane observed the young Trias on opposite side of her desk through her reading glasses. The two women were sitting in the Principal's office, discussing the student's future. The Garderobe administrator spoke in a concerned, motherly voice.

"I know you said this was important, Hikari. What's bothering you?"

The normally calm and caring Otome looked downward as if she were hiding some unspoken shame. She replied in a weak tone.

"Well, Headmistress Krau-xeku, I'm graduating soon, and… and…"

Akane nodded carefully.

"Yes. Are you going to accept your contract in Zipang?"

Hikari turned her head to further hide her face.

"I… I don't know…"

Akane soon recognized what the girl's mannerisms must have meant. Her lips curled into a gentle smile as she was reminded of her younger self.

"There's a boy in your life, isn't there?"

Hikari suddenly gasped, then raised her head to look into Akane's eyes again. Her words were conveyed in an embarrassed tone.

"Headmistress, I'm sorry…"

The wiser female comforted her student with her usual gentle voice.

"Don't apologize, Hikari. There's nothing to be ashamed of. We're strict about letting men on campus, but that doesn't mean an Otome still isn't allowed to hold love in her heart. We're training you to become noble guardians, not ruthless killing machines."

Hikari's expression noticeably brightened.

"So, should I accept it?"

Akane's voice now flowed into a slightly more stern tone.

"That's something only you can answer, Hikari. All I can do is offer you some guidance."

Hikari thought for a moment before talking again.

"Okay. So, what do you recommend?"

The brown eyes behind Akane's spectacles gazed straight toward the young Otome, constantly making sure the girl was paying attention.

"This is very important, Hikari. You need to consider all of the perspectives involved. Your sponsor has paid for your education hoping you'll accomplish great things. Your people are expecting to have a committed Otome defending them."

Hikari nodded slowly and gave her full attention as Akane continued.

"I'm not telling you to completely forget the person you're in love with like he's nothing, though. If he truly cares for you, he'll wait for you. You don't have to think of your promotion as a Meister like it's a death sentence to your relationship. If you're strong enough to put your feelings on hold, then you should accept the contract, serve your country for a few years, and then go back to him. I'm sure he'll still be there if he's the right one for you."

The student's face now smiled with idealism. Akane went on to her next piece of advice.

"However, if you think about this, and you still have doubts, don't accept the contract. You'll be no good to your master if you can't pour every ounce of yourself into your job. You'd only be torturing yourself with second thoughts if you become a Meister with that boy still tugging at your heart."

Hikari now frowned slightly as she was brought back into reality.

"If that's what you choose to do, it's going to be rough for you, Hikari. You're going to have to tell everyone who's counting on you why you think one person is worth putting everything else aside. You're going to get some harsh reactions at first, but, in time, I think they'll come to understand you're only human."

Even in her wiser age, Akane couldn't help but blush softly as she spoke her next words.

"Whatever you choose, just don't repeat my solution."

Hikari blinked and spoke curiously.

"Headmistress?"

Akane closed her eyes as she thought back to her own experiences.

"It was a long time ago, but I was in the exact same position as you, Hikari. The King of Florince offered me a position when I was the lead Trias, and I was afraid I would never see my boyfriend again."

The student became more curious.

"What happened?"

Akane gave an amused smile as she responded.

"I thought I was strong enough to be Florince's Otome, but I was wrong. I went into my own coronation with regret on my mind. Then he showed up, we created a bit of a scene, and I ended up making an impulsive choice and running away with him in the middle of the ceremony."

Hikari couldn't help but giggle.

"But you didn't get in trouble, did you? You're one of the most famous Otome here."

Akane now answered with an unusual coldness in her voice.

"I barely avoided being executed for treason and stealing the Meister GEM I had been entrusted with."

The young girl's face clearly filled with sudden horror. Akane frowned in regret and returned to her gentler voice.

"I'm sorry, Hikari. I didn't mean to scare you. I just want you to understand how serious this is and what could happen if you act brashly."

Hikari sighed with relief. Her face now conveyed uncertainty as a new wave of mixed feelings slowly situated in her head.

"So, is that all you can tell me?"

The teacher nodded quietly. Hikari soon smiled as she began forming her decision.

"Okay, Lady Akane. I'm going to think about this for a while. Do you mind if I take a few days to go over it?"

Akane slowly shook her head.

"Not at all, Hikari. I want you to take your time with this."

Hikari nodded energetically as a playful grin formed on her face.

"Thank you, Headmistress Krau-xeku!"

She politely excused herself from the room so she could return to her private quarters. Akane smiled as Hikari quietly exited the office, knowing her student would make the right choice for herself.

THE END.


	10. Chapter 10

The young Emperor glared back at Akane with disgust.

"Akane, you've gone mad! You know I never wanted to be emperor in the first place, but this is genocide!"

Akane's smile quickly faded into despair. Remembering Shizuru's words, it was her life that was on the line now.

"Then I have no choice..."

Akane struggled to speak as her resolve began to waver. However, she managed to suppress her emotions and summoned her tonfa back into her hands. The blades of the weapons began to glow once again, and the helpless Emperor sat against the wall frozen in terror as his soon-to-be assassin raised one of her arms to deliver the death blow.

Unexpectedly, Akane lowered her arms back to her sides and let her tonfa drop to the stone floor. She stared at her feet and began to sulk.

"I... can't do it..."

Soon after speaking these words, Akane grabbed the sides of her head and let out a painful scream. She collapsed to her knees and quickly realized what was happening.

"Please, no! Not now!"

She stayed in a kneeling position and continued to tremble as the Chaldean Emperor watched in puzzlement. Suddenly, the mysterious force Akane seemed to have been struggling with subsided, and she rose back to her feet. Her eyes closed as she slowly rolled her head back and allowed her hair to fall behind her shoulders. Akane began speaking in a deeper, but still distinctly feminine, voice.

"Hmph. Such an unreliable girl."

Emperor Kazuya looked up to the Otome standing over him, now more confused than afraid.

"A... Akane, what are you doing...?"

Shizuru had fully resumed control, feeling somewhat disappointed that her plan had failed. She slowly glanced down at the baffled Emperor as she lifted the tonfa from the floor and activated their blades once again. A sinister smirk appeared on her face as she continued to speak in her natural tone.

"I'm sorry, my lord. There will be no more delays... in your execution."

Emperor Kazuya's face remained frozen in an expression of horror as Shizuru quickly cleaved his head from his shoulders. His corpse slumped out of its seated position and onto its side.

As Shizuru turned to exit the throne room, a portion of the ceiling collapsed and the four remaining Columns, dressed their own Meister Robes, entered through the resulting hole. They gently landed on the throne room floor, minding the fallen guards strewn about, and gazed toward Shizuru. Column Mahya spoke in a disinterested tone.

"So, which one are you now?"

Shizuru sighed and returned her tonfa to stasis before placing a hand on her Robed hip.

"Akane couldn't keep up her end of the bargain, so I finished the mission for her. And I'm kind of disappointed, to be honest. She had some promise. She managed to do all of this for me."

Shizuru swept her arm across the room, casually addressing the carnage spread about. She continued speaking to her Column peers.

"She won't be bothering us any more, though. I've destroyed so much of her mind that I doubt there's enough of her left to contact me again. And in the unlikely chance she would even be able to, she doesn't have the willpower to try."

Meister Nao raised an eyebrow in doubt before responding.

"And what makes you so sure this time?"

Shizuru smirked with self-assurance, and simply turned toward to the beheaded body of the Chaldean Emperor before answering.

"She's lost the last thing she had worth living for."

The other Columns were satisfied with this response. The five young women flew out of Chaldea's castle and headed back to Garderobe. Another country had been conquered in the War of the Five Columns.

THE END.


	11. Chapter 11

Akane reserved her aggression and decided not to attack just yet. In response, Shizuru's next attack came when she flew above Akane's head and swung her naginata downward with enough force to breach Akane's tonfa barricade. Akane was fast enough to avoid this attack, however, and she left Shizuru swinging at empty air.

Shizuru was now positioned in the sky directly below Akane, with her back facing the dodging fighter. Seeing this as the opening she was waiting for, Akane answered with a swooping kick aimed between Shizuru's shoulder blades. Such a move surely would have paralyzed Shizuru for the remainder of the battle, but she stopped the attack with lightning reflex by spinning around toward Akane and launching the naginata's segmented chain mechanism at the enemy Otome. As a result, the chain tangled around Akane's legs, then her arms and torso. These restraints caused Akane to drop her tonfa, and they quickly disappeared and returned to stasis shortly after leaving her grip.

Shizuru smiled to herself and admired her work as she held the hilt of her naginata with one hand. The extended chain had pinned Akane's legs together, pinned her arms to her sides, and ended with a firm knot around her neck. Only the dull sides of each bladed segment squeezed against her, so it wasn't lethal for the time being. With only a small tug, however, Shizuru could instantly break her opponent's neck, or worse.

Akane struggled hopelessly to free her arms. She yelped in pain as Shizuru tauntingly pulled the chain and further tightened its grip around her captive. The chain was particularly tight around Akane's bare flesh thanks to the Pure Heart Malachite Robe's generous cleavage, which obviously did nothing to relieve her discomfort. Shizuru only delighted at her enemy's misery.

"Kittens shouldn't play with snakes, foolish girl."

Despite Akane's continued resistance, Shizuru began speaking sternly, knowing her opponent had no realistic hope of escape.

"I would kill you right now, but you've survived this long, so your ability might be of some use to the Columns."

Shizuru extended her free hand into the air, and in it appeared a syringe filled with clear liquid. She brought the syringe to Akane's eye level and began to speak more calmly.

"You have the options of dying here, right now, or surrendering to us. And if you choose the latter option, this shot will guarantee your loyalty. This new serum Garderobe has developed will interact with your nanomachines, essentially reprogramming you so you'll never disobey orders from the Five Columns. As an added benefit, it will bind certain features your Meister Robe normally provides to your genetic code. In other words, you'll always be able to use certain features of your Robe even when you're not in Materialized form."

Shizuru grinned mischievously as she carefully rolled the syringe between her thumb and index finger and continued to speak.

"We're not exactly sure how much the serum will change you, however. We designed it this way because we plan to turn as many Meister Otome as possible to our side before this war ends, but the Column system only allows a limited number of provisional Meister-level connections at the moment."

Shizuru's subtly taunting tone never faded from her voice. She knew her prey was at her mercy and would never be able to divulge Garderobe's secrets no matter what choice she made.

"To be honest, I was the one who suggested we use you as our first test subject, Akane. You were my best student when you graduated from Garderobe, so I pray you'll make the right choice."

Akane hovered in place, helplessly bound by Shizuru's weapon and unable to do anything but listen to her captor's speech. She only became further agitated by the shallow attempt at flattery, causing her to curse her captor and continue to struggle. Shizuru shook her head in disappointment and continued speaking.

"Why are you still fighting? Don't you understand what this war is about? By conquering all of the neighboring kingdoms, the entire world will be united under one flag. A few sacrifices may need to be made, but it's all for peace; a lasting peace the current world will never truly support. The countries ultimately only care about their own needs. You of all people should realize what we're doing is right, Akane. You were left to defend Chaldea completely by yourself because the other kingdoms didn't want to involve their own Otome in foreign matters."

Akane suddenly felt unsure of herself, but continued struggling against her entanglements.

"You're insane, Shizuru! The... the other rulers stayed out of this because they know I'm strong enough to beat you myself!"

Shizuru sneered at her enemy's response.

"Is that what you really think? Say what you want. Please bear in mind, though, the only way to leave this battle alive is to do as I say."

Akane turned her head as far away as the restraint around her neck would allow. She quietly considered her fate, pondering the likelihood of escaping Shizuru's trap. If she surrendered, there was a chance the injection wouldn't work, and she could escape at a later time. Both options were very dangerous.

* * *

><p>Continue fighting: Go to Chapter 12<p>

Surrender: Go to Chapter 13


	12. Chapter 12

Akane continued to fight against Shizuru and used a new burst of energy to pull against the restraint held around her. She grit her teeth as she angrily declined her captor's offer.

"I'll never betray Kazu!"

Shizuru shook her head in disappointment. The syringe disappeared from her hand, and she took her naginata hilt with both hands as she spoke.

"Very well. You and your Emperor can live happily ever after... in Hell."

Shizuru sneered as she pulled on the hilt of her weapon with a sharp twist. In an instant, each barb on the extending naginata turned on its sharp edge, shredding the material of Akane's Meister Robe and mincing her flesh and bone with ease. This would have resulted in rather spectacular gore, but Akane's death was relatively merciful as her nanomachines self-destructed and disintegrated her filleted remains into green embers in seconds.

Elsewhere, in Chaldea's castle, Emperor Kazuya Krau-xeku suddenly wailed in pain as wounds erupted across his body and he quickly dissolved in the same display of green fire and sparks as his Otome. The kingdom had fallen.

THE END.


	13. Chapter 13

Akane's squirming subsided, and she hung her head in shame as she quietly spoke.

"I... surrender."

Shizuru smiled with satisfaction and allowed her trap to loosen slightly. She gently pulled on the chain to bring Akane close enough for the injection. Akane responded with an obvious look of anxiety, trying to remind herself that she had better chances listening to Shizuru than she did resigning herself to certain death.

"Smart girl. Now, just relax. This shouldn't hurt any more than when you first had your nanomachines installed."

With Akane still held in place by the tangled naginata chain, Shizuru inserted the needle just below the frightened girl's left shoulder. So far, everything was working just as it should. The needle was specially designed to puncture an Otome's nanomachine shielding, and the clear contents of the syringe entered Akane's system without resistance. When she was finished, Shizuru pulled away from the defeated Otome and quietly observed her reaction.

Akane was quickly overcome by weariness. Her eyes grew heavy as she heard Shizuru quietly laugh. Her head drowsily slumped downward, and she felt the chain restraint being completely removed from her arms and legs. When Akane drifted into a peaceful sleep, the anti-gravity rings on her ankles and wrists destabilized, and her unconscious form would have been left to plummet thousands of feet below if Shizuru hadn't been inches away to catch her.

* * *

><p>A week had passed since Chaldea lost contact with their Meister Otome.<p>

"Lady Shizuru, here's the prisoner you requested."

Two Coral Otome dragged Emperor Kazuya into Garderobe Academy's courtyard. His bruised face showed signs of days of interrogation and beating. He had been captured easily, as there was no way for his kingdom to retaliate or even defend itself from invasion as long as its Otome was missing. He looked up from a forced kneeling position and stared at the uniformed Five Columns standing in front of him, struggling to keep a black eye open.

"You bitches. You haven't even told me what I'm charged of!"

The group of young women only laughed at the powerless Emperor. Mahya Blythe, the tan-skinned Column Otome, was first to speak.

"You're guilty of treason against the Columns, of course. Not to mention conspiring to use your Meister to rebel against us."

Natsuki, the blue-haired Otome, stepped forward and kicked Kazuya in the gut. She taunted him as he lay groaning on the floor.

"Consider yourself lucky. Normally we don't even take the time to explain ourselves to criminals like you before their execution."

Kazuya was overcome with dread at those words, but held on to the hope that Akane was coming to rescue him. After all, if the Columns had killed her, there was no way he could still be alive. Natsuki turned to Shizuru as Kazuya sluggishly climbed back to his knees and silently questioned his fate.

"We've said enough, Shizuru. Send for the executioner."

Shizuru calmly nodded.

"Very well, my Lady."

Shizuru left the courtyard as the remaining four Columns stayed to make sure the prisoner made no attempt to escape. A few minutes after Shizuru left, another, shorter figure emerged from the same doorway. Despite his damaged eyesight, Kazuya recognized the new girl's brown bob cut almost instantly, and a new expression of hope appeared on his face.

"Akane, you're here..."

As she came closer, he saw she was wearing her formal Meister uniform. When she reached the center of the courtyard and stood alongside the four Columns, Kazuya realized what he first blamed on his blurred eyesight was something he was actually seeing. Atop Akane's head were two black cat ears, and emerging from the back of her miniskirt was a white cat tail with black stripes on its tip. She looked down at the captive Emperor curiously, tilting her head to the side as her new set of ears twitched with excitement.

"Huh. Who's he?"

Dread returned to Kazuya's face.

"Akane, what did they do to you?!"

The Emperor desperately cried to his former Otome.

"N-nevermind! Let's get out of here!"

Akane answered his pleading with only the same curious expression as before. She stepped forward and gently knelt on her knees, being careful not to stretch her dark pantyhose. She was at eye level with the pleading Emperor, and she crawled onto all fours as she leaned closer to his face. Her tail waved into a slow pattern as her nostrils gently flared.

"Hmm. Your scent is a little familiar. Have we met?"

Natsuki abruptly stomped her foot to gain Akane's attention. So far, the injection had worked perfectly and Akane had lost all memory of her previous self, but there were some minor doubts that too much socializing with past relationships may reverse the psychological effects of the process. Akane's tail stood up with surprise at the noise, and she curiously looked over her shoulder.

"Akane, enough! You know what we need you to do."

Akane frowned at Natsuki's words.

"Aww, but can't I at least play with him for a few more minutes? He seems funny."

Natsuki shook her head and coldly looked back down on Akane.

"Remember how he tried to hurt Shizuru? It's dangerous if he's alive even a few seconds longer."

* * *

><p>Listen to Natsuki: Go to Chapter 14<p>

Ignore Natsuki: Go to Chapter 23


	14. Chapter 14

Natsuki's comment caused Akane to turn her attention back to Kazuya, shooting a menacing glare into his eyes. Any objections the captive would have had to this warped account of events were pre-emptively silenced by a punch from Akane that sent him sprawling onto his back. The angered girl then climbed back to her feet as ordered.

Kazuya slowly sat up from this fresh beating and watched in horror at the events unfolding in front of him. The Pure Heart Malachite GEM, now attached to the base of Akane's pointed left ear, activated seemingly at will. Akane's formal uniform disappeared in a white flash, and her Meister Robe quickly appeared over over her glowing nude form. The Robe had been revised somewhat, with the large stabilizer ribbon completely removed to compensate for Akane's waving tail, and the cat ear hairband replaced by knotted white laces that decorated her natural feline ears. Following the transformation, Kazuya looked down to his hand and glanced at his imperial signet, quickly noticing that Akane's Robe was somehow functioning with no connection to the ring.

"Akane, how did you..."

The determined Otome remained oblivious to Kazuya's questioning as she summoned her familiar tonfa weapons. As the Columns stepped back to a safe distance, Akane pointed her weapons forward, and her target was further horrified when the ends of the tonfa opened to reveal small machine gun barrels. The prisoner quickly jumped to his feet and turned to run out of the courtyard to avoid the oncoming onslaught. However, his response came too late. Akane was determined in killing her prey, and she quickly riddled her target with bullets. As her weapons shot across the courtyard and reduced the Emperor of Chaldea to a bloodied sponge, her mouth curled into a cheerful grin and revealed a set of feline fangs.

While Akane removed the corpse from the courtyard, all she could think of was how she would make Shizuru proud. She was Teacher's pet, Akane told herself, and the most important thing for making Teacher happy was to bring her more pets.

* * *

><p>Akane continued to use her refined powers to complete the attack missions her beloved Mistress Shizuru assigned her. Garderobe's medical staff quickly realized the effects of the serum were uncoupling with Akane's genetic code when she reported for her checkups, so the Columns agreed to put her on a treatment schedule to ensure her body and mind stayed in their altered form. Akane never got used to the slight sting of her regular injections, but she suppressed her objections and delighted in the fact she was doing something that would make Shizuru happy.<p>

Through the following months, Akane systematically invaded the countries surrounding the militant state of Windbloom and battled their individual Meisters. When the girls accepted Akane's terms of surrender or were safely worn down by the Column-aligned Pure Heart Malachite's attacks, Akane injected them with the serum on site before carrying them back to Garderobe. Many of the female warriors weren't so complacent, however, and Akane took pleasure in ending their lives so they would be no threat to the Columns.

Garderobe was grateful of the number of new Otome Akane brought to their cause, but the new amount of Meister-level connections being rerouted to their network in the same manner Akane had been was becoming a great burden to their only power source. The loyalty drug worked just as it was designed to keep the captured Meisters on the Columns' side, but there were virtually no physical effects seen within the growing army and they still depended on the use of their GEMs to fight for the Columns. There were two particular patients that reacted to the drug in a way similar to Akane, however: Meister Shiho Huit of Florince, and Meister Haruka Armitage, the former General of the Army of Aries. In her new obedient form, Shiho always sported small black raven wings that resembled the cape of her dark Meister Robe when they were closed. It was soon discovered these allowed her to fly significant distances without the use of her Robe's built-in flight devices. In addition, Haruka now sported two thin, veined transparent white leaves that had grown from the sides of her head. To a casual observer, these features appeared as if she were wearing a short bridal veil in her wavy blonde hair. Although Haruka's new natural abilities took a little longer for the Columns to notice, they ultimately proved to be just as useful as Shiho's. Haruka's fingers were now microscopically tipped with nerve endings that could-even when gloved-interact with plant life and rearrange the flora's molecules to augment them into strong, rope-like tendrils that violently sprouted from their source and quickly wrapped themselves around anything Haruka targeted. Even when not Materialized, Haruka could turn virtually any terrain into a trap, assuming there was abundant healthy plant life nearby.

The Columns carefully agreed that the three unusual girls would be assembled as a new task force within Garderobe's army. As it was her efforts that allowed this project to proceed, Akane was promoted as leader of the trio. She felt an unexplainable familiarity in this role, but her thoughts toward the matter permanently subsided and drifted back to her present loyalty to Shizuru when she was given her latest injection.

The three young women now dressed in new matching uniforms that were closely based on the design of the standard Pearl Trias formal wear, but replaced the grey color of the main dress with a light blue color. To symbolize their chemically-induced obedience, the three also wore thin silver collars cormfortably around their necks. Akane's included a small metal plate on the front that bore a gemstone matching the color of her dress and signified her leadership. The group was taught to fight with short batons that resembled the basic training equipment of Coral Otome, but were tipped with special glowing Robe-piercing blades. These weapons functioned with a small, independent form of Garderobe's Materialization technology, and they could be used by Akane and her team without having to activate their Robes. The blades retracted and were stored in the sashes of the three girls' uniforms when they weren't in use.

The team engaged in various training exercises on Garderobe's grounds to coordinate their unique abilities. As the Columns had hoped, Akane and Shiho formed a natural bond together in their current forms, as this indeed wasn't the first time the two young women worked together in a similar group. Despite some doubts, Haruka also became close to her peers and was always aggressive in protecting her slightly younger colleagues. She brought an air of stoic toughness to the group that balanced with Akane and Shiho's playfulness. She had somewhat of a habit of forgetting Akane was her superior and taking the incentive to decide the group's next move, but her tactics usually worked to the group's benefit and she never brought the three girls at ends if Akane or Shiho had any objections.

When the Columns were confident in Akane and her squad, the three uniformed girls were summoned to Garderobe's administrative office.

* * *

><p>Akane stood at the empty Principal's desk patiently with Haruka and Shiho at her sides. When she began to grow bored of waiting for her superiors to enter the room, she mischievously swayed her tail in Shiho's direction and brushed the striped tip against one of the pigtailed girl's compact wings. Shiho fluttered her wings slightly and giggled with ticklishness. This game stopped abruptly when the two shorter Otome peered toward the stalkier Haruka, who was throwing them a silent threatening scowl, and the three again stood politely at attention.<p>

Shizuru and Natsuki soon walked into the room, and Akane's group bowed before Natsuki sat at her desk with her Lieutenant at her side. She placed a folder on the desk and began briefing the three Meisters on their mission.

"As you three probably know, Queen Mashiro and her Meister have been missing since we raided Castle Windbloom. We fear she may be traveling between countries and organizing some sort of insurrection against us, but Meister Arika has proven to be far too powerful to attack head-on. Fortunately, we've found a more manageable target that will greatly impede the queen's attempts once eliminated."

Natsuki suppressed a slight feeling of regret as she struggled with the moral implications of marking one of her childhood friends for death. She opened the folder and emptied the contents to show Akane and her colleagues. They were aerial photos of Earl's Black Valley region.

"Some patrolling Pearls took these for us a few days ago. We know for a fact that a well-respected Meister by the name of Mai Tokiha and her contracted master have been hiding here for some time. Intel tells us there's been no recent contact between her and the missing queen, but I fear it won't be much longer until Mashiro tries to sway Mai to her side."

Natsuki shuffled deeper into the folder's documents and produced a picture of a girl in Buddhist monk robes.

"Mai's partner calls herself 'Mikoto,' and she has somewhat of a natural affinity for sensing active GEM signals. Obviously, you'll be unauthorized to use your Robes in combat, and you'll be divorced from your interim Meister contracts for the time being."

All of these facts had been considered when the Columns designed the mission, and they felt it would be the ideal field test for the unique abilities of Akane and her colleagues. Natsuki collected the papers from the desk and neatly filed them back into the folder.

"Your mission is to kill Mai Tokiha using only your newest training skills."

When Natsuki finished addressing the group, Shizuru spoke with in a courteous tone.

"So, Akane, do your think your team can complete this mission?"

The task sounded like fun, Akane thought, and she was excited to be entrusted with something so important. She gave a polite but energetic nod that caused her short brown hair to gently bob. Shizuru smirked in satisfaction at this response.

"Very good. We'll make the proper preparations for your transport."

The three girls bowed again in unison before leaving the room.

* * *

><p>Akane's squad was silently brought to the edges of the Black Valley's woods in a Windbloom airship. They walked out of the craft in their blue uniforms with their short staff weapons elegantly tied at their waists. Earlier that day, they were informed that Mai and Mikoto took a routine walk through a particular path in the woods every night, and the three Otome had a long way to travel before reaching the target point.<p>

Haruka seemed to find a reason to complain about everything during their hike. Akane and Shiho only wanted to joyfully chatter about their excitement for the upcoming battle, and Haruka would abruptly butt in if she thought her two comrades were talking too loudly, or they were marching too slowly, or they were marching too quickly, or they weren't paying enough attention to their surroundings. Akane was somewhat annoyed, but she knew Haruka was only concerned for the younger girls' safety.

The sun was well into setting when the trio reached a large clearing in the woods that was deemed to be the point of attack. When the moon began to fill the sky, Akane's brown eyes glowed with a slight vibrance that the orbs of her two colleagues lacked. Her injections had given her the gift of exceptional vision at night, and the Columns knew this could be a great benefit when they designed the mission. As the sky became darker and it was almost time for Mai and Mikoto to make their pass through the clearing, Haruka insisted on using a guerilla strategy that called for each Otome to take a specific cover spot in the forest before attacking individually. Shiho found the elder Meister's recommendation to be boring, and even a bit unfair. She suggested that they should at least introduce themselves to their target before attacking together. As leader of the Meister troupe, the final decision was made by Akane.

* * *

><p>Haruka's plan: Go to Chapter 15<p>

Shiho's plan: Go to Chapter 22


	15. Chapter 15

Akane approved Haruka's plan of attack, and the three uniformed Otome moved to their separate stations after some brief last minute pleading by Shiho. Haruka quietly hid behind some tall grass at the edge of the forest clearing while Akane and Shiho made their way for the largest nearby tree. Akane climbed to a branch about halfway up the trunk while Shiho took a short flight upward to perch within its very top leaves. Akane's ears twitched as they listened to the soothing sound of crickets and a rustling wind passing through the tree. Her feline instincts made her briefly consider taking a nap on the branch, but she quickly shook the idea out of her head when she remembered the safety of her close friends and Mistress Shizuru were at stake.

When Mai and Mikoto finally walked into the forest clearing discussing the carefree events of their day, Mai stopped when she seemed to hear a distant flapping sound in the night air. She looked toward the moon in the sky, and she was suddenly taken by a feeling of dark omen as she thought she saw the tip of a black feathered wing flying over her just in the corner of her eye. When she scanned the night sky, however, she couldn't find the source of her fear. Mikoto watched her curiously, not sensing anything out of the ordinary. After Mai quietly fought off her unexpected chilled feeling, she sighed and turned back to Mikoto with a reaffirmed smile.

Just as Mai had settled on blaming her imagination for her unexplained uneasiness, a light blue figure jumped from the tree beside her with a short bladed staff in one of its hands. Akane ran toward Mai the moment her feet touched the ground and slashed at the unexpecting Meister. Mai quickly backstepped out Akane's reach, making the sudden attacker swing at thin air before dashing back into the brush. Mai frantically turned to Mikoto, who nodded in silent agreement before activating Mai's Meister Robe and raising her own Buddhist staff into a combat position.

The now-Materialized Mai was again taken by surprise as she heard an unnatural rustling sound coming from the grass. Green tendrils suddenly burst from the ground in front of her as if very forest was trying to devour her. Mai and Mikoto dove in opposite directions to avoid this terrifying attack, and Shiho took advantage of this separation by swooping down from her latest hiding spot and slamming her free fist into a recovering Mikoto's stomach. The force of the blow sent the monk flying into the thick base of a tree, causing her staff to fall from her hands. Mai snapped her head in the direction of Mikoto, recognizing the figure that attacked her to be the source of the dread she felt moments ago.

"Mikoto, get out of here!"

Mikoto painfully climbed back to her feet. She had first wanted to object to her protector's wishes and continue to fight with her. However, the fact her contract with Mai had bound their lives together, in addition to already being wounded prey from her crash into the tree, made her realize her presence gave these expert assassins two targets to completing the same goal and only made her Otome's battle more difficult. Mikoto nodded toward Mai before lifting her staff off the ground and running into the darkened woods. An uneasy smile appeared on Mai's face as she turned again to scan for her next attacker.

Akane had already sprung from her cover before Mai fully recovered, and the uniformed Meister let out a battle cry as she ran forward and slashed at her unprepared enemy's chest. Mai barely had enough time to parry to the side and, before she was even able to land, Shiho re-emerged from behind a tree and took her own swipe at the overwhelmed enemy as she flew low to the ground. Mai rolled under the attack and landed in a thick patch of grass. As she rose back to her feet and desperately tried to catch her breath, she heard a loud thud on the ground behind her. Flailing green vines erupted out of the ground under her just as before, and this time they found their mark. Once they reached her ankles, Mai found herself unable to lift either of her legs off of the ground, and she looked over her shoulder as the trap quickly cocooned her up to the knees. Amidst the ongoing confusion of the battle, she was shocked see Haruka Armitage, one of her Garderobe classmates from years past, kneeling with one palm against the ground behind her.

"Ha-Haruka?! What are you doing here?!"

The blonde-haired Otome remained engrossed in her attack, watching contently as she was slowly turning her opponent into an earthen statue. The abundant number of mind-altering injections she had been given made her long forget her former acquaintance with Mai.

Mai's attention to Haruka was broken when she heard rapid footsteps approaching her and turned her head forward to see Akane was now making her third deadly pass. Mai couldn't move anything from her waist down with her own strength at this point, as Haruka had engulfed Mai's lower half in a solid layer of vines that were even more formfitting than her skirted Meister Robe. After a quick moment of thought, Mai made her next move.

* * *

><p>Mai dodges: Go to Chapter 16<p>

Mai blocks: Go to Chapter 19


	16. Chapter 16

In a desperate attempt to dodge Akane, Mai activated the flight drives on her wrists and captured ankles to their maximum capacity. Miraculously, it was enough force to finally rip out of Haruka's trap and launch Mai straight into the night sky. She looked down to see the forest clearing shrink under her feet and two of her attackers watching as she escaped their range. For Mikoto's sake, Mai had to escape from here and recollect herself. With some rest, she would be able to beat the three Meisters in an even fight.

As she stopped in the air and frantically scanned the ground and the tops of the trees to account for all three of her attackers, she noticed a shadow had appeared on the ground above her own. The same sensation of bad omen instantly overcame Mai as it had at the beginning of the battle. When she turned around, she saw Shiho hovering inches away from her as a raven-shaped silhouette against the moon, with her bladed baton poised to attack and her normally cheerful face contorted into an almost demonic grin. Suddenly overwhelmed with a level of satisfaction that made her feel as if she had been waiting for this moment for an eternity, Shiho attacked the stunned Mai with a single crescent slash that reduced the decorative scarf of her Robe to ribbons and cut a deep slit across her throat.

The lifeless form of Mai started falling back to the ground. Her nanomachines quickly entered their self-destruct mode the moment Shiho had blocked her retreat and struck her with the killing blow. This was to prevent her body from being looted for its Robe technology, and her remains had already started dissolving into green glowing particles before she roughly landed on the ground of the forest clearing. The Fire Stirring Ruby had been defeated.

Mikoto had been hiding safely just at the edge of the clearing tending her wounds as the battle raged. She stepped out of her cover, having no fear of the assassins attacking her now, and witnessed the final sparkling flecks of her fallen Otome fading into the whistling night air. Her eyes were flowing with tears as she softly spoke.

"Mai..."

She had to live on for Mai, Mikoto told herself. There was something she could try, but she was unsure what the results would be. After wiping away her tears, Mikoto struck the bottom of her ceremonial staff against the ground. A glowing white circle appeared on the ground around her feet, and this soon become a glittering pillar that surrounded her body. She closed her eyes in deep concentration as she also began glowing in a brilliant green, signifying the initial stage of the nanomachine-triggered decomposition process. The two sources of light that emitted from Mikoto were flickering against eachother, as if fighting for ownership of her very body. Unfortunately, Founder Fumi, the inventor of the entire Otome system, was quite thorough in ensuring the Meister life-sharing clause humbled all of its users, and Mikoto couldn't escape paying the price for her Otome's failure. The meditating monk's concentration finally ended and the white light disappeared when she suddenly screamed in pain and dropped her staff to clutch her chest. She quickly fell to the ground, and her body slowly disappeared in the same vibrant display as Mai. In actuality, Mikoto was an ancient Goddess who was responsible for maintaining the Black Valley's state of peace, and now she had lost her physical body.

Shiho landed and rejoined her group as the spectacle ended. Her expression had returned to its usual innocent playfulness, and there as a new comfort in her voice as she spoke.

"Ahh, I love when Meisters are defeated. That green stuff they turn into is so pretty."

Haruka was silently clenching her fists for not being the one to take credit for the mission's success, but withheld her thoughts so she wouldn't rob Shiho of her well-deserved happiness. Akane didn't take mind of the issue either way, as simply seeing the mission through for Lady Shizuru was what gave her the most joy. After some rest, the three girls began walking back through the woods so they could rendezvous with their transport ship in the morning.

Akane's Otome squad had proven themselves to be a great value to Garderobe and were celebrated upon their return. Over the next few days, the three girls shared their thoughts and joyfully joked about the events of the battle to a curious audience of Corals and Pearls. A great burden was lifted from the Columns, as they had gained a great advantage in the war while also discovering they could lower their number of active Meisters and depend on Akane's abilities to end their energy crisis. After this period had past, Akane and her two close comrades awaited their next mission.

* * *

><p>Although their initial mission was a success, it soon became apparent Akane's force was coming apart at the seams. Following the assassination of Mai, an uncanny mean streak seemed to come over Shiho; one that interrupted the team's training missions and constantly brought the three girls to argue. She would go out of the way against both Akane and Haruka's advice to destroy the team's simulation targets in the cruelest ways possible, and it was slowly hurting the squad's morale. Furthermore, Garderobe was eventually able to alleviate its original energy crisis by constructing a second generator underneath the academy, allowing the Columns to restore their standard Meister-rank troops and all but nullifying the original purpose of Akane's team. With their presence becoming an increasing nuisance to the Columns' goals, the Meister "pet" team was deemed obsolete and sentenced for execution.<p>

Akane was emotionally crippled upon receiving news of her impending death, and she struggled to understand why Shizuru made the decision after everything Akane had done to make her happy. Was it because of the pranks she had been pulling on the Corals? Was it because of the nap she took on the cafeteria table last week? Did she let Shiho strangle the training dummy for too long in their most recent exercise? She begged for forgiveness, but nothing changed Shizuru's mind.

On the eve of the three girls' execution, they were placed in the same cell to spend a final night together. The trio sat silently in their disarmed blue Meister uniforms, and Akane saw a chance to break the ice. She could either give up her life to make Shizuru happy, or she could violate every moral she had been taught for as long as she could remember and convince her comrades to break from their prison.

* * *

><p>Escape: Go to Chapter 17<p>

Don't escape: Go to Chapter 18


	17. Chapter 17

Akane looked up to her colleagues with a twitch her in ears and a new happiness in her glowing feline eyes. She spoke in a hushed tone as to not catch the attention of the nearby Pearl who was guarding the cell.

"Hey, guys, let's get out of here!"

Haruka and Shiho looked up from their sulking positions. Working under a new hopeful energy Akane had brought the group, the three quickly planned a method of escape. They would catch the guard's attention and make her open the door before knocking her out. Upon their escape, Haruka suggested, they should temporarily separate and kill the sleeping Columns before rendezvousing just outside Garderobe's grounds. This was to ensure they wouldn't be chased and could spend the rest of their lives supporting each other in the wild. Shiho happily agreed with Haruka for the first time since the team's original mission together, and Akane walked to the cell's door to begin her frantic act.

"Guards, help me! Shiho's gonna get meee!"

When the unsuspecting Pearl opened the door to alleviate Akane's false worries, Haruka stepped out of the corner of the room grinning and disabled the poor young woman with a well-placed uppercut. Akane's team found their baton weapons in a room near their cell, then sheathed the blades in the sashes of their uniforms and went about their grisly plan. After each defenseless Column was put to rest with a stabbing strike to the heart, Akane's squad kept their weapons as survival tools and made their way to the thick woods of Windbloom.

Unknown to Akane and her friends, their bodies had been chemically dependent on Garderobe's mutagen injections for some time, and they quickly began feeling the effects of a fatal withdrawal process after their first missed medication. Despite keeping themselves well-fed off the resources of the forest, Shiho and Akane soon began exhibiting symptoms resembling serious sleep depravity, and the once sparkling clear leaves that hung from Haruka's hair were becoming shriveled dry husks. Furthermore, the mental conditioning on Akane and Haruka slowly wore off, and they both became emotionally unhinged when broken and incomplete memories of their original lives returned to their minds and they realized what they had done as the Columns' soldiers. Akane had viciously gunned down her precious Emperor Kazuya, and Haruka had orchestrated the murder of her close Garderobe classmate, Mai. Both girls were suffering from great psychological injury in addition to the growing physical pain of their bodies gradually shutting down. The trio spent their last struggling breaths together questioning what strange illness had stricken them. Since they had hidden themselves well into the forest, their bodies were never found.

Now lacking all form of leadership, Garderobe quickly surrendered in the War of the Five Columns and allowed Empress Mashiro to restore the world to its previous state. Although it was all thanks to the indirect efforts of Akane and her unusual friends, the Columns' abrupt deaths were accounted for only by rumors of an expert group of assassins sent by an unknown neighboring country. Akane and the story of her special squad of Meisters soon disappeared from history.

THE END.


	18. Chapter 18

Akane briefly looked toward her two doomed comrades, then brought her knees to her chest and let her cat tail coil across the floor as she continued sulking. If this was how Mistress Shizuru really wanted things done, this was how it would have to be.

In the morning, the team was dressed in medical gowns and wheeled on gurneys into Garberobe's hospital unit. After the three shared a final tearful farewell together, they were each injected with a toxic serum that caused their nanomachines to painlessly stop their hearts and quietly put them into an eternal slumber. The Columns briefly considered giving Akane and her team memorial plaques in the Otome Catacombs, but they soon decided the fact they had been fighting a war between Robed Meisters with lowly mutants was a dirty secret they'd rather cover up. The bodies of the three executed women were secretly buried in a remote location outside of Garderobe.

The Columns later won the war and unified the world, but the contributions of Akane and her squad were never known to history.

THE END.


	19. Chapter 19

As Akane continued to run toward Mai to deliver the killing slash, Mai outstretched an open palm toward her attacker and deflected the would-be assassin with a small white forcefield generated by her Robe. While Akane staggered, Mai returned her attention to Haruka and pleaded with the blonde-haired Otome to stop fighting. Haruka only continued to watch her floral minions engulf Mai, silently hoping that Shizuru and Natsuki wouldn't mind the slight mission revisions her instincts had devised on the spot. Mai's face froze in a look of horror as the last threads of Haruka's skintight netting finally closed around her head and left her staring into blackness. She quickly drifted into unconsciousness due to lack of oxygen.

Shiho landed beside her two colleagues and regrouped with them. She and Akane observed Mai's cocooned hourglass figure with an uncertain wonder as Haruka rose back to her feet and grinned in anticipation. Within the silky green prison, the vines began privately bathing Mai in a sweet-smelling amber nectar that they had secreted. The natural enzymes quickly corroded Mai's Fire Stirring Ruby GEM, severing her connection to Mikoto and freezing her body in a bare state between her normal and Robed forms. In her forced slumber, Mai could feel the warm fluid flow over her skin like a soothing lotion as it slowly seeped into her pores and replenished her lungs. After some time, the entangled vines allowed the clothes she was wearing before the battle to reappear and preserve her modesty before they carefully released their grip and fell to her ankles.

Mai was dripping wet as she silently stepped out of the remains of the makeshift womb Haruka had placed her in. As she shook some gooey residue from her short orange hair, it became apparent that the chemicals inside of her encasement had mutated Mai's ears into white pointed fins, and her eyes now conveyed a slight reptilian look. A thin puff of smoke also escaped from her lips, as a pocket had grown in the back of her throat that would allow her to exhale small bursts of flame. Although Mai's expression remained peaceful as she approached the other girls, Akane and Shiho began to step back in caution until Haruka nodded for them to stay in place. Upon stopping, Mai tilted her head and sniffed the night air a few times as her fins twitched, then silently determined her onlookers to be friendly. With her original consciousness now hopelessly drowned by the poisons of Haruka's trap, Mai smiled at the three other girls to introduce her reborn self.

"Hi! I'm Mai!"

Akane and Shiho suddenly felt relieved, and the four altered Otome soon felt an instinctive bond growing between them. Akane was now inclined to allow her target to live and be brought back to Garderobe, as she saw Mai's potential as one of Shizuru's pets and felt a sisterly caring for the transformed Meister. Upon the four girls' return, Natsuki was quite shocked by Mai's appearance, but soon decided to have her join Akane's task force when it was discovered Garderobe's injections were fully compatible with the captured Meister's changes. Mai was given a uniform that matched the appearance of Shiho and Haruka's, and she was quickly trained to fight with the rest of the obedient team. Over the next few days, Akane's newly christened team awaited their next mission.

* * *

><p>After she became a permanent member of Akane's team, Mai began to raise worries with her colleagues in regard to their loyalty to the Columns. She had the instinctive feeling that the Columns would soon get rid of the four of them, and she urged the rest of the team to turn against their superiors and escape Garderobe while things were still peaceful. Her pleads quickly won over Shiho and Haruka, but Akane took a little more coercion due to her longer history of obeying Shizuru. When Akane finally gave in, Mai extended her plans by saying they should use Haruka's ability to turn at least one Column to their team before they ran away, as, even in her serum-induced state, she had qualms against casually murdering the five young women. Shiho agreed that it would be nice to have another friend on their team, but Haruka sternly rejected the idea after weighing the risks. She was uncertain the chemicals of her summoned plant servants would be powerful enough to convert someone as powerful as a Column, and she felt it was much more efficient to simply eliminate the lot before retreating.<p>

As the leader of the assassin quartet, Akane made the final decision on which strategy to use.

* * *

><p>Escape alone: Go to Chapter 20<p>

Take one of the Columns: Go to Chapter 21


	20. Chapter 20

Akane ordered her team to attack the Columns without mercy during their escape, much to Haruka's delight. Akane, Shiho, Haruka, and Mai gathered in Garderobe's courtyard with their bladed batons in hand. When the Five Columns returned from their latest conquest in their Robed forms, Akane stepped forward from her group to address Shizuru, who was somewhat baffled by her servants' appearance.

"We've decided we don't need you anymore, Mistress Shizuru, so now you have to die!"

Realizing this meant Akane's squad was about to viciously attack, the Columns prepared themselves for battle. The resulting 5-on-4 brawl turned out to be a spectacularly one-sided fight in the Columns' favor, as the Meisters who could still use their GEMs proved to be too powerful and too far in number for their rivals to handle. When the mutant task force was slaughtered, Shizuru was somewhat disappointed that her plans for Akane didn't succeed, but quickly rebounded by reminding herself the Columns had recently found an alternate remedy for their energy crisis.

Before the Columns War ended, Akane and her friends were buried as traitors and had their names stricken from Garderobe's service records. The Columns ultimately won the war and gained full control of Earl, but the contributions of Akane's group of altered Otome were erased from history.

THE END.


	21. Chapter 21

Akane decided to try using Haruka's methods of persuasion against the Columns, much to Haruka's consternation. When Mai and Shiho sided with Akane, Haruka finally agreed and lowered her objections to bitter grumbling.

Akane and her team chose to make their attack against the Columns when the five Robed women were returning to Garderobe's courtyard from their latest campaign. Shizuru was the most baffled of her group when she saw Akane, Shiho, and Mai standing in the way of the academy stairs in their blue uniforms outside of their barracks. Before they were able to question Akane, the Columns were abruptly separated when a wall of green vines erupted from the ground and tried to grasp them. Although Shizuru was able to neutralize this attack with a wide slash from her naginata that easily cleaved through the vines, her colleagues were already shaken as they realized Akane's team had turned against them.

Mai quickly acquired the first kill. While Natsuki frantically attempted to aim her Robe's cannon at any of her opponents, Mai exhaled a small fireball that struck its stationary target on the chest and left a smoldering hole through Natsuki's torso. Natsuki lifelessly dropped the weapon from her hands and stood frozen on her feet. Her last moments were spent in a feeling of horror as she disappeared in a flurry of green embers that lit up the night sky and released her connection to Garderobe's Column subsystem.

Nao watched her colleague's demise and became overwhelmed in anger. She desperately tried trapping her opponents in the pink glowing rope that was shot from her arm shield, and she missed Akane, Shiho, and Mai several times as they dodged. Nao was then taken by shock as the concrete road erupted underneath her and she was ensnared in the same vine trap that had attacked her before. Now, without Shizuru's immediate support, Nao was quickly engulfed in the quivering tendrils. Inside her cramped prison, Nao's GEM was destroyed and she began undergoing the same process that Mai had suffered some time ago.

Mahya quickly dashed toward Nao's grass cocoon in an attempt to save her doomed comrade. Now that Mahya was distracted, Shiho was able to swoop in and lift her from under her arms. Mahya tried to struggle out of Shiho's grasp, but soon realized not even the flight drives of her Robe could overcome the strength of Shiho's small black wings. Shiho carried Mahya through the air to the front of a tree in Garderobe's courtyard, and Akane suddenly pounced out of the tree's rustling shadows with her bladed short staff drawn. The defenseless Mahya watched in horror as Shiho forcefully guided her dark belly into Akane's blade. The two aggressive Otome then allowed Mahya to fall from the air with Akane's blade still impaling her, and her lifeless remains quickly disappeared in the same display as Natsuki shortly after hitting the paved ground. Akane recovered her weapon after landing on her feet and dashed toward Shizuru, who was now busy fending off Mai and Haruka.

As the battle raged, the last member of the Column group, Sara Gallagher, was watching her team drop like flies from a safe distance with her black Robe's cloaking feature. She silently hovered in front of a wall on Garderobe's exterior, and she was suddenly interrupted by the feeling of a slimy arm wrapping around her waist and a female frame pressing against her back. With her concentration broken, Sara disengaged the cloaking effect and looked over her shoulder. Nao had blossomed from her nearby earthen prison, and was now using her new natural abilities to cling to wall behind Sara in her still soaked formal uniform. A pair of small antennae bobbed in her short red hair, and she smiled to reveal two fangs dripping with venom. Sara cried out in anger as she struggled against Nao's hooked arm.

"Nao, damn it! This isn't the time to play around!"

Nao only giggled and replied in a sultry tone as she continued to use her feet and opposite arm to cling to the wall.

"You look delicious, Sara..."

Sara screamed as she felt Nao's injectors puncture the back of her neck. The concentrated acid of Nao's venom quickly turned the blonde Column's insides into a molten soup, and Nao growled in disappointment as her limp dinner faded from her arm in a sparkling swarm of green particles. After a brief moment by herself, Nao shrugged, jumped from her hiding spot, and scurried across the ground toward the final Column when her instinctive drive to protect Akane's team kicked in.

Completely overwhelmed by Akane, Mai, Haruka, and Shiho's attacks, the Robed Shizuru dropped her naginata in exhaustion and attempted to flee the scene. However, upon turning around, she was instantly stabbed by Akane's baton, followed by those of Akane's three subordinates. Shizuru soon slumped to the ground of Garderobe's courtyard in her purple Robe and disintegrated in the same fashion as the other deceased Columns.

Akane and her friends smiled in relief and congratulated each other when the battle was over. The four girls froze in place nervously, however, when they heard someone quietly walk up behind them. They turned around the see the new form of Nao. Her Column uniform was now mostly dry, and she was grinning toward the other young women as her antennae twitched and identified them as friendly comrades. She addressed her onlookers with playful energy.

"Is it okay if I join you guys now?"

Akane eagerly allowed Nao to join the team, and the five girls silently formed a bond that night that lasted for the rest of their lives. They escaped from Garderobe just as they planned and headed toward a remote area in the Black Valley woods that Mai suggested. Although all of the girls' bodies were heavily dependent on Garderobe's serum injections, Haruka found she was able to siphon the sappy nutrients of the plants she controlled into a tasty drink that prevented the sickness of withdrawal in herself and her friends. As they were living in a lush forest, Haruka was able to keep the team healthy and slowly weened them off of their chemical dependency.

Garderobe wasn't sure what to make of its sudden loss of leadership. In their confusion, they were soon invaded by an outside force. This wasn't a formal attack from a neighboring nation, however, but actually the return of Akane and her team, who-even including Nao-attacked the former military academy out of discontent for being exploited as Shizuru's underlings. Once their raid was successful, the five mutant women took a mischievous liking to widespread destruction and used their unusual talents in unison to raze outside countries in similar surprise attacks. They proved to be unstoppable together, and slowly plunged the world into a state neither side could have predicted during the War of the Five Columns. Akane's team grew to notoriety as vicious outlaws, and they single-handedly left the whole of Earl in anarchic darkness.

Thanks to Akane's rampage, the countryside lived in constant paranoia of surprise attacks from the infamous Meister squad. In the end, her team unofficially conquered the world with terrorism.

THE END.


	22. Chapter 22

Akane chose Shiho's plan of attack, and the two began to rehearse the introduction Shiho had in mind. After Mai and Mikoto finally walked into the forest clearing discussing the carefree events of their day, they stopped silently when they noticed the three uniformed Meisters standing in their path. Akane and Shiho had expressions of lively cheerfulness, but Haruka only stood in place with her arms crossed and tapped her loafer-clad foot on the ground. Akane jumped a few paces forward from the center of the group and delivered their theatrical entrance.

"We are Garderobe's faithful Meister Trias, nyaa!"

She winked with youthful vigor at the end of her proclamation. The rogue Meister and her master only stared back in bafflement. Mai scratched her head with a raised eyebrow before she responded.

"Um... o-... kay? Haruka, is this some sort of joke?"

Mai glanced around the forest, not sure if she should look for an assassination squad or a candid camera. Haruka only continued to wait stubbornly, as her serum-soaked mind made her unable to recognize her former Garderobe classmate. Akane replied with a smile, but there was a new sinisterness in her energetic voice.

"Of course it's not! You're a threat to the Columns' power, so we've been sent to eliminate you!"

The three girls broke their act and pulled their sparkling steel batons from their hips. After their glowing blades locked into place, Mai stepped back in shock. She turned to Mikoto, who silently nodded and allowed Mai to transform into her Robe. As the attackers ran forward together in perfect unison, the now-Materialized Mai removed her Robe's chakram weapon from her belt and caused it to grow into a giant burning ring in retaliation. Upon launching herself through her floating weapon, the Otome's entire body was converted into a flaming javelin that easily breached the charging phalanx formation of Akane's group. While Mai returned her body to its original Robed form and summoned the compact chakram back into her belt, she turned around to face the carnage she had wrought.

Since Akane, Shiho, and Haruka had not been Materialized when they were struck with Mai's attack, they lacked the luxury of having their nanomachines bring mercy and modesty to their deaths. The intense heat and flame Mai emitted as she brushed past them had quickly dissolved their cloth uniforms and left the three girls' flailing feminine silhouettes to be hopelessly devoured by a wall of starving flames. When howls of agony subsided from the defeated trio, the flames died down and revealed all that remained of Akane and her squad were a pile of black cinders and the three silver collars they had been given by Garderobe. Mai sighed in a mix of grief and relief as she walked back towards Mikoto and deactivated her Robe.

Mikoto approached the pool of ash. When it was cool to the touch, she knelt to one knee and picked up the deceased Akane's decorated collar. She rotated her hand to inspect the item from all angles, and quickly took a liking to its simple but elegant design. She hung it next to the other rings on her Buddhist staff, then stood back up to resume her conversation with Mai.

With their carefree life now rudely interrupted, it wasn't long before Mai and Mikoto were preparing to retaliate against the Columns. In addition to this, Garderobe had failed in fulfilling its last desperate attempt to alleviate its energy crisis and the problem only worsened. With the loss of Akane's Meister squad, there was no longer any potential for Garderobe to fight their war without GEM equipment. The Columns' war of attrition against the world quickly fell from their favor, and within time they were forced to surrender.

THE END.


	23. Chapter 23

Akane continued glancing over her shoulder as her tail waved in a relaxed pattern.

"Are you sure this is the right guy, Lady Natsuki? He looks so harmless. And look, he's already hurt! It wouldn't be fair to kill him right now."

Natsuki's eyes narrowed as she struggled to hold her temper.

"Akane, we told you..."

Shizuru casually stepped back into the courtyard and interrupted Natsuki in a delicate tone.

"With all due respect, Lady Natsuki, I feel she's is right. The prisoner is no danger to us. There's no reason to trample on Meister Akane's curiosity."

This resulted in an expression of surprise from the other four Columns. The five girls quickly gathered in a group and began speaking in hushed voices that Kazuya couldn't hear and Akane, even with her more sensitive ears, was too occupied in her study of the prisoner to notice. Nao had the first objection.

"Shizuru, I know you're having fun with this little experiment and all, but do I need to remind you we don't exactly know if the memory erasure is permanent?"

Shizuru calmly shrugged as she responded.

"And what if it isn't? Her GEM only has a provisional connection to mine. If her original personality returns and she becomes too feisty, we can just terminate the connection."

Mahya objected next.

"But Emperor Kazuya's ring is still bound to his body from Akane's original contract, so it can't be removed as long as he's alive. He might figure out he could just renew his contract with Akane. That would bypass our limit completely."

Shizuru grinned, not wavering from her position in the slightest.

"I've already defeated the poor girl once. She would never risk putting her precious emperor's life on the line again with the five of us constantly around her."

The four other Columns shook their heads in defeat. Natsuki glanced over at Akane, who had now taken to brushing her ear against Kazuya's shoulder and giggling, and waved her hand to signal the group to return to their original positions. She cleared her throat and spoke.

"Very well. Akane, take the prisoner to the guest quarters and treat his injuries. You can have guard duty tonight."

Akane listened to Natsuki attentively and nodded. She climbed to her feet and helped Kazuya back up before slowly guiding him toward Garderobe's bedrooms. Kazuya, completely puzzled by these events and dealing with a painful limp, remained mostly silent along the way.

* * *

><p>Night had fallen, and Akane quietly paced through the hallway outside of Kazuya's bedroom. Her ears pointed back as she heard the young man's muffled voice through his door.<p>

"Aka... Meister Akane, my shoulder is hurting again. I think my collarbone might be broken..."

Akane turned toward the voice and opened the door with a worried expression. Her worry quickly turned into surprise as she was roughly pulled into the room. Kazuya quietly closed the door after poking his head out to glance down the hallway, then guided Akane to sit beside him on his bed. He was still wearing his torn imperial trousers, but was otherwise naked except for various bandages placed on his body and face. He let out a soft groan and held his bandaged abdomen as he sat down, but seemed to be feigning his shoulder injury. He turned his head and his eyes peered into Akane's, but she only curiously blinked in return.

"They really did it, didn't they? You don't remember any of it, do you?"

Kazuya spoke in desperation, looking for the slightest hint of hope in Akane's expression. She appeared to have a wondering look in her eyes, but otherwise stared at Kazuya like he was a stranger as she responded.

"Remember what?"

Kazuya clenched his fists in anger. He had only one chance left, he thought, and all signs pointed to him being dead by the end of this no matter what he did. To Hell with it.

"You said I seemed familiar, right? I hope this sparks your memory..."

Kazuya reached out in a flash and grabbed the back of Akane's head to bring her lips to his. Akane initially squirmed in surprise and resistance, but quickly subsided and closed her eyes. Kazuya could feel a slight tingle under his nose as the girl again took in his scent as she did earlier that day.

Akane's eyes fluttered back open with a new awareness as she continued to be held in the kiss. Kazuya slowly let her go as he noticed this reaction, and her face filled with glee.

"Kazu, it's you..."

She remembered everything up until the moment Shizuru injected her with that shot, and then... her transformation. Akane quickly distanced herself from Kazu, raising her hands to her head to cover her ears and coiling her tail under her skirt.

"No! I must disgust you! I'm a freak!"

Kazuya reached out and slowly guided Akane's hands into her lap. Her tail re-emerged and began waving hypnotically as he did this.

"It's fine, Akane. Do you really think I'm going to hate you for something so simple?"

He reached back to the top of her head and ran his fingers across the soft black fur of her ears. This resulted in Akane closing her eyes and giving off a sigh of delight.

"Besides, you look cute with these."

Kazuya felt fully relieved as he continued to speak.

"Akane, let's get out of here. Everyone else is asleep. We can make it out of here and find somewhere to hide."

Akane responded with a worried look in her face.

"We can't do that. It would only be a matter of time before the Columns find us. We already tried living like that, and it only made things worse. If we stay here and listen to them, they won't hurt either of us."

Kazuya's voice became worried as well.

"They're afraid you're going to use your powers against them, aren't they?"

Akane shook her head.

"Not right now, at least. I Materialize through a connection to Meister Shizuru now, so they could disconnect me any time they wanted."

Kazuya looked toward his ringed hand as he spoke.

"I could try..."

Akane quickly placed her hand over his to bury the ring and interrupted his words, knowing exactly what he was going to say.

"Anything but that! I'd rather live as a prisoner than risk getting you killed again!"

Akane peered down into her lap and slowly came to the conclusion their bid for freedom was hopeless.

"Even if you didn't contract me again right now, I think they're afraid I might use the Pure Heart Malachite at SOME point. The Columns will never let me just run away like this, especially Meister Mahya. Let's just stay here and do what they tell us."

Kazuya had an idea. He slowly lifted his hand to Akane's chin and turned her head toward his.

"Akane, if I... decommissioned you tonight, and we just left the ring and GEM here, they would have no reason to chase us."

A deep blush appeared on Akane's face as she gave an expression of uncertainty. What Kazuya was alluding to was a possibility. An Otome typically retired through marriage and, subsequently, sexual intercourse with her husband. In this case, the protein in Kazuya's sperm would permanently disable the combat capabilities of Akane's nanomachines upon entering her body, and then both Akane's GEM and Kazuya's signet ring would be deactivated entirely and could be removed safely. However, Akane was still left with some doubts.

"What if that just makes the Columns angry? I wouldn't be able to protect you, and they could execute us both."

Kazuya only smiled in response.

"Mahya only found you the first time because of me, right? The Columns War has already voided my power as Emperor, so I'm certain they won't chase us again. This will work."

Akane stared downward nervously, conflicted by her options.

* * *

><p>Go with Akane's plan: Go to Chapter 24<p>

Go with Kazuya's plan: Go to Chapter 25


	24. Chapter 24

Kazuya watched in disappointment as Akane got off the bed and started walking towards the guestroom door. She stopped before opening the door and spoke.

"I'm sorry, Kazu, but I can't risk losing you again. I'm going to keep helping Shizuru so none of the Columns will hurt you. This is the safest way."

The young ruler's feelings of despair were calmed by Akane's voice, and he eventually nodded in agreement.

"It's alright. I understand, Akane."

Akane gave an uneasy smile as she quietly shut the door.

"Goodnight, Kazu."

She returned to her post and continued to guard the hallway for the rest of the night.

* * *

><p>It was the morning after Akane's original persona returned. She had nervously revealed to the Columns she was no longer the subdued "pet" the injection had temporarily turned her into, but hid the fact that the Emperor had tried to escape during the night. She offered her full obedience in exchange for Kazuya's safety, and the Columns' reaction was surprisingly positive. They also decided there was no need for further experiments since Akane continued reporting for duty and behaving well. In the following weeks, it soon become apparent that, without regular injections, the biological effects of the loyalty serum were just as temporary as the psychological. Akane's tail gradually shortened in length as her feline ears began painlessly receding back into the shape of human ears. Within a month, there were no signs that she had even been given the mutagen.<p>

The Columns' conquest of Earl had continued in this time, and Shizuru occasionally returned with a fallen Otome that had been given Garderobe's drug. The more stubborn girls were kept in line with a regular routine of treatments, while a few others were encouraged to take the drug to put less strain on Garderobe's Otome system. These defectors, combined with the Corals and Pearls who had chosen to stay loyal to the Columns they idolized when the war began, gave Garderobe a growing military force.

Akane was surprised that her familiar life had gently fallen back into place. She was eventually entrusted with taking a group of the younger girls under her wing and training them in the rules of combat and the etiquette of an Otome (as the Columns dictated, obviously) on a regular basis. She continued to wear her Meister formal uniform and use her Meister Robe in exercises, but she functioned and Materialized in the same fashion as a leading Pearl. Best of all, she was allowed to make daily visits to Kazuya's room, and happily discovered that he was growing comfortable with his unusual surroundings. He had fallen into somewhat of a peril, though, as it was understandably difficult for a bachelor such as himself to constantly cross the paths of young women his age while adhering to the academy's "no touch" policy.

The Columns were becoming increasingly worried of Garderobe's morale as the male guest continued to stay on academy grounds. Furthermore, Windbloom's castle had remained empty under their watch since their initial proclamation of war, and their forces had grown to the point that a political front was practically required. The decision was carefully made to install Kazuya as a puppet King of Windbloom, as he clearly had no intent to be at odds with the Columns as long as Akane was happy, and such a timid ruler would set an example for how the other kingdoms should address the Columns. One of Akane's afternoon visits to the guest chamber was interrupted when the Five Columns stepped through the door, informed the couple of the decision, and summoned them to Castle Windbloom.

The coronation ceremony was held in Windbloom's empty throne room. The only figures standing in the room were the Five Columns, the soon-to-be King of Windbloom, and the Meister Otome who would serve him.

Akane's eyes scanned the ceremonial chamber. She was inspired by the thought of serving as Windbloom's Meister, but she quietly questioned herself. Queen Mashiro and Meister Arika were still in exile, so was it really right to just walk in and take over the kingdom like this? Her thoughts were interrupted as Column Mahya Blythe stepped forward from her group and began a rather truncated version of her ceremonial speech.

"He offers his hand, she kisses the ring, everyone goes home happy. You know the drill."

Mahya's eyes carelessly moved to the person she was addressing as she spoke.

"You're a monarch with no actual political power, and you're forced to serve him as his Meister until I say you've fulfilled your obligation. Nothing you two aren't familiar with."

Akane turned her head to face Mahya, taking offense to her crude words.

"You're wrong, Lady Mahya! Kazu would be a great king if you let him!"

Mahya simply snorted and shook her head.

"Whatever. Just get on with it so we can finally let the nobles back in here."

Akane lowered her objections and turned her attention back to Kazuya. She slowly knelt to one knee as her king lowered his hand to her lips, then closed her eyes and gently kissed the signet ring. She heard her GEM earring begin to softly whir and beep as it released its provisional connection to Shizuru's GEM and recalibrated itself to the energy signature of Kazuya's imperial signet. The contract was complete.

Akane rose back to her feet and turned toward the Columns. This process had ended her doubts and imbued her with a new sense of justice.

* * *

><p>Follow Mahya's orders: Go to Chapter 26<p>

Fight the Columns: Go to Chapter 27


	25. Chapter 25

Akane turned to Kazuya with a revived happiness in her eyes. She leaned into him and hugged him, and her tail gently wrapped around both of their waists. She whispered softly as she spoke.

"We'll have to be quick about this. The Columns could realize I've left my post any second."

Kazuya nodded in agreement as he slowly pulled Akane into another kiss. He made short work of removing the outer garments of Akane's Meister uniform, and was soon guiding the nervous girl to lie on her back on the luxurious bed. In the subsequent minutes, Garderobe's guest quarters remained silent except for the sounds of two passionate lovers having the night of their life.

* * *

><p>The next morning, Akane failed to report to the briefing Shizuru was scheduled to give her for the day. Two of the Columns, Nao and Mahya, were sent to the guest quarters to investigate her disappearance. What they found were Akane and the captive Emperor Kazuya amidst a deep slumber in the same bed, naked except for the sheets covering them, with Akane's tail still entwining the two lovers as it slowly waved across the mattress. Mahya was quick to realize that, while she had been selfishly planning the next conquest in the War of the Five Columns, she had ultimately underestimated the sexual resolve of the former Otome in front of her. She could only cover her face in embarrassment.<p>

"Oh, shit..."

The couple hadn't planned on exhausting themselves overnight and leaving themselves to be captured, but the situation still worked out in their favor. As Akane and Kazuya were forcefully dressed into ordinary clothes and brought to Natsuki's office in handcuffs, the Columns had decided there was no advantage (or point, for that matter) in forcing the two to stay on Garderobe's grounds. It was determined Akane was no serious threat with her genetically bound abilities, as she was an otherwise ordinary girl with a keen sense of smell, remarkable hearing, and some surprising but harmless agility. Akane and Kazuya remained nervous and unknowing of their fate as Natsuki considered the facts and announced their sentence.

"As you two have brought shame and embarrassment to both Garderobe's principles and the role of an Emperor, you are to remain banished from both Windbloom and Chaldea for the rest of your lives."

Natsuki shook her head in disgust as she paused.

"Somehow, I don't think either of you are going to have any problems with those conditions."

Akane and Kazuya turned their heads to each other lovingly as Akane fought back a fit of laughter. After they had surrendered the Pure Heart Malachite GEM and Chaldea's signet ring, Natsuki spoke again.

"Your transport is waiting outside the academy gates. Your restraints will be removed once you're outside of Windbloom's borders. Guards, take them."

Although now officially regarded as criminals, Akane and Kazuya couldn't be happier. They were finally together, and nothing could steal their joy. They considered their exile together to be their legal marriage, and, as they were loaded into the military transport, all they could think of was where they would spend their honeymoon.

The Five Columns watched the vehicle drive away as they silently cursed at their failure.

THE END.


	26. Chapter 26

Akane bowed politely toward her fellow Otome as King Kazuya nervously sat on his new throne. Akane had decided this was the right thing to do, and she couldn't be happier serving Kazuya. She spoke in a quiet, cheerful tone.

"Is there anything else you need from us, Lady Mahya?"

Mahya gave a satisfied smile at this response. It was about time this girl wised up, the older Column thought to herself.

"The former Queen Mashiro and that lapdog of hers will probably retaliate somehow when they learn of King Kazuya's crowning. Be prepared to fight her Meister without mercy."

Akane nodded in agreement and spoke in the same soft voice.

"Yes, that would definitely be a threat to my lord's power. I'll be ready."

"Splendid."

Mahya was pleased by Akane's clear resolve and returned to group of Columns standing behind her. As they left the throne room, Natsuki turned to speak to Akane a final time.

"I'm going to let the nobles know the exchange of power is complete, and your court should be entering in a few minutes. Remember what Mahya said, and I'll let you know if your skills are needed in the meantime."

Akane quietly nodded again as she loyally stood beside her king's throne. In the brief moments the ruler had alone with his bodyguard, he began speaking with doubt in his voice.

"Akane, are you really serious about all of this...?"

She turned toward her beloved king and replied with a gentle assurance in her voice. She had made her decision the moment the contract was complete.

"Kazu, don't doubt yourself. The people depend on you, and I'll always be right here."

The last few words of Akane's response caused the king to sigh in relief. He began mentally preparing himself for his first address to the arriving Windbloom court.

* * *

><p>It was only a few days later when the former Queen of Windbloom made her anticipated counterattack. Mashiro Blan de Windbloom and her Meister, Arika Yumemiya, had quietly stayed out of the country when they discovered Garderobe's forces were blocking their re-entry after the military school's initial declaration of war. The pair had decided it was better to rally a coalition of foreign powers together and crush the Columns in a large counterattack than it was to hastily break back into the country and potentially only escalate the situation by themselves. However, the latest travesty the Columns had committed by putting a false king on the throne and further impeding Windbloom's recovery forced the exiled queen to abandon her diplomatic efforts and return to her homeland immediately.<p>

King Kazuya was seated on his throne with his beloved Meister standing happily by his side as he watched a concert the court musicians were performing in the throne room. The court was taken by a sudden silence when the decorative castle doors were abruptly pushed open and the silhouettes of the former queen and her own Otome stood in front of the sunlight now pouring through the doorway. Arika was clad in her blue Meister uniform, and the silver-haired queen was wearing her casual street disguise of loose-fitting blue pants, a long open jacket, and a somewhat risque short white tube top. After peering up toward his loyal bodyguard to ease the sudden wave of anxiety in his mind, Kazuya asked the court to clear the room. Most of the subjects stepped out of the room for their own safety, with a few stragglers only moving towards the walls and staying to watch out of curiosity or historical interest. The court had been well-warned a battle would take place when the former queen arrived.

With the path cleared, Mashiro and Arika slowly walked down the carpet leading to the throne. When they stopped, Arika protectively positioned herself in front of her queen and spoke with forceful worry in her voice.

"Akane, Kazu, what are you doing?! This has to be a joke, right?"

Akane closed her eyes and courteously replied.

"I'm afraid not, Meister Arika. When Queen Mashiro abandoned her country at the start of the war, the Columns decided that a new leader was necessary. His majesty was chosen to take up the flag since he was no longer needed in Chaldea."

Mashiro silently grit her teeth at this interpretation of events. Arika continued pleading.

"So the Columns forced him to do this? That has to be it!"

Akane simply smiled and shook her head.

"Not at all, my lady. King Kazuya is very grateful to be allowed to rule the greatest kingdom in the world."

A growing desperation began to enter Arika's pleas. She was beginning to doubt she could talk the king and his Otome down peacefully.

"So HE'S to blame?! Akane, Otome shouldn't be forced to just blindly follow their leaders! They should be allowed to chase their own happiness! You of all people should understand that!"

Arika's words brought Akane to recalling her final days as the top Trias before her graduation from Garderobe Academy. Arika was a first year student at the time, and she had been the one who convinced Akane to renounce her role as a Meister and pursue her own dreams of living as a couple with Kazuya, before she had been chased down and forced to complete a contract. Ironically, Arika's words only had the effect of further affirming Akane's newfound resolve. Akane responded as politely and collected as ever.

"I'm afraid there's a flaw in your logic in this case, Meister Arika. Kazu's strength and well-being IS the happiness I've decided to seek."

Arika was taken aback by Akane's level of commitment. In previous conflicts, Arika had grown accustomed to arguing with stubborn Meisters who lacked the gentle determination Akane exhibited; girls who quickly stumbled over their words when forced to consider their position as unwavering servants. Akane hadn't even brushed aside Arika's objections in anger or haste. She had thought the matter through thoroughly and retained a delicate sincerity in her responses. As Arika considered these facts, she began to understand the stern speech Headmistress Graceburt gave her class in the Otome Catacombs many years ago. Arika and Akane still respected each other as friends, but the War of the Five Columns had put them on opposite sides and had taken away their privilege of settling their argument peacefully. For Mashiro's sake, Arika had already decided she couldn't walk away from the confrontation. The Meister stared at Akane for a few more seconds before turning to her queen, speaking with a feeling of regret in her voice.

"Mashiro, please contract me."

The queen nodded solemnly as Arika kneeled in front of her. She leaned forward to kiss the GEM on Arika's ear, and the Otome's Meister uniform quickly disappeared to reveal her glowing naked form. The glow soon concentrated to specific parts of Arika's body and Materialized as her Meister Robe. To ensure a quick victory, the unique multiple Robe feature of Arika's GEM had already been calibrated to its highest known setting: A blue, caped bodysuit that made Arika's normally braided hair to fall freely to her shoulders. As this happened, Kazuya activated Akane's GEM with a soft kiss and she proceeded to undergo the same process as Arika. Akane quietly stepped down from Kazuya's elevated throne in her white Meister Robe, stopping when she was on even ground with the Otome challenging her. Arika summoned her Robe's weapon, the double-ended Sword of Akatsuki, and Akane summoned her Robe's tonfa in response. The battle had begun.

Arika was the first to launch forward, her feet hovering slightly off the ground, as she let out a battle cry. Akane returned with the same, and the girls' weapons clashed off of each other when they met in the center of the throne room. The two Otome staggered in opposite directions after the blow, and Akane was the first to recover. Her Robe provided her the advantage in reflexes and agility, but Arika was far from helpless with her superior strength and defense.

Akane swung the bladed edge of one tonfa toward her stunned opponent, but Arika was able to recover in time by extending her free arm and stopping the weapon in its place by grabbing it by its dull side. She continued to hold Akane's arm firmly in place with a single hand. Akane quickly overcame her resulting surprise of the maneuver by swinging the opposite tonfa at Arika's now outstretched arm, and her weapon bluntly hit its target with forte.

Arika cried out in agony and temporarily dropped her blade to tend to the spiraling pain in her arm. The blow would have certainly shattered the bone if Arika hadn't been Materialized, but it wasn't enough to completely disable her arm in this case. Akane took the advantage by making an vertical slash toward her cowering opponent, but Arika was quickly able to duck and roll out of the way, taking her blade back into her grasp along the way. However, while Arika was still grounded, Akane raised both of her weapons over her head in unison and aimed another crushing blow toward her prone enemy. Arika reacted just in time to block the more aggressive girl's attack with the Sword of Akatsuki's central hilt. Akane had Arika pinned to the ground in a weightlifting position, and Arika could feel the still lingering pain in her left arm slowly swell as she struggled to push Akane back.

The Sword of Akatsuki was shaking and buckling as Arika's injured arm slowly gave way under pressure. Akane's tonfa were firmly locked together in an "X" shape as her face contorted from the intense effort she was applying. The Sword of Akatsuki began to dip, and the fighter with the advantage was gradually guiding the weapon back toward its own user. Arika's expression quickly turned to fear as one of the blade's ends was only inches from slowly piercing her chest. She continued to resist, but her eyes began to well with tears as she could feel certain defeat approaching. In her most desperate moment, she softly begged for aid from the only source her increasingly meek mind could think of.

"Mother... help me..."

As if almost on cue, Arika's GEM began to whir and beep with a new burst of energy. Her body was overwhelmed in a golden light that threw Akane back into the air and temporarily blinded her. When the light faded, Arika was now clad a different Robe than before. The new design sported a different distribution of blue and white through its glossy, formfitting material, and the Robe now exposed the skin of Arika's abdomen and cleavage much like Akane's. All of the spectators gasped in shock, and the King of Windbloom was forced to briefly look away in embarrassment as the sight brought a slight tingle to his loins. This was the Robe's hidden Artemis form, a feature that was unknown even to Arika herself.

A renewed calmness was on Arika's face as she rose to her feet. She showed no surprise at her change in attire, as it seemed some unseen force had quietly brought her to understand her newfound power. The pain in her arm had faded completely, and she wielded a new, sleeker form of the Sword of Akatsuki in one of her gloved hands. As Akane struggled to overcome her sense of bafflement at these events, Arika had already begun her attack. The revived Otome began dashing around Akane from random angles, delivering a blow that staggered her in the air each time Arika swept past. Akane was equally overwhelmed by the fact that Arika's new Robe left a trail of vibrant afterimages every time she moved, and this quickly made it difficult for the defending Otome to focus on a single target. Akane was eventually able to recover and shift out of the field of attack, however, and she began to improvise a counterstrategy against her rival's new abilities.

Akane concentrated her eyes and silently commanded the nanomachines in her body to activate their night vision ability at the lowest setting. Her brown eyes began to glow in a gentle yellowish hue, and this, combined with the ornamental ears sprouting from her hairband, gave Akane an increased feline look. A Coral or newly-promoted Pearl would probably find this exercise silly, as night vision technology obviously only made it more difficult to see in daylight. While it was true Akane was generally impairing her own eyesight and causing everything in the room to appear to her with a slightly blurring amount of brightness, this peculiar tactic gave her a very generous advantage that other Meisters would have envied. Since the Pure Heart Malachite GEM generated this ability by constantly tracking and interpreting light differences reflected only by solid objects, the Otome using it could now only see one target in the room. Akane had completely nullified the mental effects of Arika's afterimages.

The next time Arika swooped in for another passing attack on her enemy, Akane caught her off guard and slammed the blunt side of a tonfa into her chest. This sent Arika recoiling back some distance through the air, and Akane took the advantage. She swung both tonfa in an uppercutting motion, activating her Robe's ultimate ability and creating a concentrated blast of glowing air that would surely pin Arika back to the floor. However, Arika stayed perfectly in place when she was struck, and the blast simply wrapped around her curved form and condensed as if it was being absorbed. The concentrated energy quickly moved through the metal insets of her Robe and funneled into the GEM on her ear. The spectators watched in awe as Arika briefly paused and listened to her GEM quietly beep in her ear, then quickly outstretched her weaponless hand and returned an augmented copy of the very same blast from her open palm. Akane's eyes widened in shock and confusion before she was thrown clear to opposite end of the throne room.

When she recovered from the unexpected attack, Akane saw Arika was launching toward her from the far end of the chamber with her sword firmly gripped in both hands. Akane immediately activated the flight devices on her ankles and wrists to their fullest capacity before propelling herself forward in direct retaliation. The battle was going to end in a classical jousting charge, and, with her twin tonfa weapons, she had two possible methods to deliver her finishing attack. Akane made her choice before the two Otome impacted in a blinding flash that filled Castle Windbloom's throne room.

* * *

><p>Attack with the left: Go to Chapter 28<p>

Attack with the right: Go to Chapter 29


	27. Chapter 27

Akane shot an angered glare at the Five Columns. She knew she would be putting everything at stake by disobeying, but she had decided this latest venture was going too far. If she was truly going to be Windbloom's Otome, it was up to her to show that her king wouldn't tolerate the level of insolence the Columns had expressed from the start of this war.

"Kazu, please, activate me!"

The new Windbloom king was taken back by surprise at Akane's words.

"Wha-... what?"

She turned to face him again, and he soon nodded as he saw his Otome was fully determined to fight.

"Alright, Akane."

He leaned forward and gently kissed the GEM earring on Akane's ear. The device began beeping again in response and began its Materialization process. In a short flash, Akane was dressed in her Meister Robe. The Five Columns scowled with contempt, and then responded by activating their own GEMs at will and donning their corresponding Meister Robes.

With the battlefield drawn, Akane summoned her tonfa weapons to her sides. She levitated a few inches off the floor before dashing toward the Columns. The remarkable speed and agility of the Pure Heart Malachite Robe caught the Columns off guard, and she brushed past an unprepared Mahya and left the young woman reeling off of her feet. Nao made the first counterattack and tried to shoot a glowing pink web from the large claw-shaped shield she wielded. Akane jumped over Nao's line of fire and answered with a flying punch that dazed the aggressive Column. Akane's decorative cat ears then twitched as she heard the familiar sound of Shizuru's naginata chain lashing toward her back. Akane instantly turned around and dashed toward Shizuru, evading the more experienced Otome's attack by looping through the air and countering by slashing the staffed weapon in two with her own bladed tonfa. Although briefly shocked at this elegant maneuver, Shizuru backstepped in time to avoid a second sweeping attack aimed at her head, leaving the very tip of Akane's glowing tonfa to lightly graze her cheek. The attacking girl threw a third punch, and Shizuru collapsed after Akane's fist and the dull side of her tonfa violently struck her in the gut.

Natsuki was struggling to aim her Robe's portable cannon at the lightning fast target when she became the focus of Akane's attention. Akane raised her tonfa to perform their elemental attack, then used an uppercutting motion to create a concentrated gust of wind that lifted Natsuki off the ground and painfully slammed her against the adjacent wall. Akane then turned to notice Mahya had recollected herself and had now activated her Robe's doppelganger feature, as she now held maraca-shaped devices in her hands. A large creature appeared behind the frustrated Column and began mimicking her every move. The beast's head nearly broke through the Windbloom throne room's ceiling as Mahya used its long arms to aim a series of punches at Akane. The faster Otome was able to evade these by flying low to the ground, making her body parallel with the stone floor of the castle, and then answering with a sweeping kick to Mahya's legs when she was in the proper range. As the dark-skinned Otome toppled to the floor a second time and dropped her weapons, Akane stood up and crushed one of the fallen maraca instruments under her Robe's glossy white heel. This caused the summoned beast to suddenly fall limp and return to its stasis mode in Mahya's GEM.

Akane returned to a hovering position as her eyes scanned the room. Kazuya was safely watching from a distance, and four of the five Columns were hopelessly groaning as they struggled back to their feet. However, the final Column, the blonde-haired Sara Gallagher, was nowhere to be seen. Suddenly, the sensitive microphone ears on Akane's hairband heard a faint mechanical whirring noise coming from just above her shoulders. It was the sound of the black-Robed Column's optical camouflage deactivating. Akane turned around just in time to take the full brunt of Sara's surprise diving kick.

Akane cried in pain as she forcefully fell to the throne room floor and her metallic tonfa clattered far from her reach. She slowly rose back to her feet to notice the Column Nao was now shooting the same webbing material as before at her ankles. Akane proved to be too weakened to dodge this attack, and Nao didn't miss her target a second time. The glowing pink material left Akane's feet stuck to the floor like a ball and chain, and Akane could do nothing but watch in terror as Nao stepped out of way and left a perfect line of fire for a repositioned Natsuki.

The defeated Otome's scream filled the Windbloom throne room as she was struck by the widespread laser from Natsuki's cannon. Even though the weapon was only using a portion of its maximum firepower, Akane could briefly feel her flesh sear and her very molecules split apart before her nanomachines began to self-destruct. The anti-matter ray was far greater than Akane's height and width, and it left a sizzling hole through the stone wall of Castle Windbloom. Windbloom's new king was standing at a safe distance from the blast, but he suddenly began painfully screaming in unison with his Otome as he disappeared into a flurry of green fire and embers.

Natsuki calmly lowered her weapon when the matter was finished. Nao began speaking as she repeatedly shook her head, still struggling to regain her full senses.

"Damn it, Shizuru. Can't you be a little more careful when you go off judging people?"

Shizuru ignored her companion's words as she reached to her wounded cheek and grit her teeth at the sight of blood on her gloved hand. With her vanity ruined, the only thing that kept Shizuru from falling into a more detestable mood was the fact Natsuki was the one to win the battle. Sara spoke next, taking amusement out of the fact she was the least harmed of the group.

"Well, I guess we can officially say we conquered Windbloom, at least."

The Columns walked out of the throne room and began their return to Garderobe after they collected themselves. They knew the damage Akane had done could easily be repaired with the academy's technology, and it was only a matter of time before another one of the ruling families came begging for mercy. They were determined to win the War of the Five Columns and unify the world.

THE END.


	28. Chapter 28

When the flash faded, the spectators saw that the two warriors were still closely embraced a few feet above the floor, and Akane's motionless head was slumped over Arika's shoulder. Akane had stabbed with her left arm at the moment of impact and missed her target, and the Sword of Akatsuki had eagerly plunged through her soft midsection to punish her for her mistake. As the resounding echo from the impact faded, Arika suddenly felt two warm tears drip onto her shoulder and heard Akane's voice painfully whisper her beloved master's name.

"Kazu..."

Akane's eyes had closed and her levitating body had already begun to disappear in an evaporating mist of green embers by the time the crowd was able to see the result of the battle. In the end, Akane was only a modest Otome, and she proved to be no match for the revered Blue Sky Sapphire.

Arika calmly landed on the throne room floor before easing her GEM's power and changing back to her formal Meister dress. She then turned to face the throne with Mashiro, and both girls donned a silent expression of regret. King Kazuya watched these events unfold in great sorrow and, before long, he briefly spasmed in pain before his body fell lifeless on the throne and disappeared in the same fashion as his defeated Otome. The puppet ruler's reign was over.

With the matter settled, Arika and the queen decided to leave the kingdom again to resume their diplomatic efforts. This battle had reaffirmed Mashiro's title, and she and Arika had sent a message to the Columns not to challenge the issue again. The Columns' forces had seen their first major defeat, and Mashiro would soon be able to organize a full scale invasion under her revived leadership. This moment marked the beginning of the downfall of the Columns and led to their defeat in the war.

When Queen Mashiro restored the world to its original state and reopened Garderobe Academy under new administration, Akane was remembered only by a gravestone that was respectfully placed in the Otome Catacombs. It chronicled how she had given her life in devotion to Kazuya Krau-xeku, the temporary King of Windbloom.

THE END.


	29. Chapter 29

When the flash faded, the spectators saw that the two warriors were still closely embraced a few feet above the floor, and Arika's motionless head was slumped over Akane's shoulder. The victorious Meister could feel a few strands of her opponent's silky brown hair drape down her back, and the defeated fighter quietly exhaled her last breath onto Akane's neck. Akane had swung with her right arm at the moment of impact, allowing her to dodge Arika's final jab and plunge the short blade of her tonfa into her enemy's thinly-armored chest.

The spectators of the battle were taken by a wave of complete disbelief as they watched the legendary Blue Sky Sapphire slowly dissolve into a collection of green embers just like any other defeated Otome. They had gained an unexpected admiration for the Pure Heart Malachite.

Akane carefully lowered herself to Castle Windbloom's floor, and the elevated white heels of her Robe clapped softly as they made contact with the stone ground. Her GEM beeped quietly as it began to deactivate, and she was soon wearing her white and gray formal uniform again. She was breathing quickly and could feel her heart slowly returning to its natural rhythm as she came to rest. She had pushed herself well past her nimble body's physical limit and fought with an amazing willpower to compensate for the technological gap between her Robe and Arika's. After she closed her eyes to put a slight dizzy spell to ease, she looked toward the throne room doors where Mashiro was standing. Akane peered toward the doomed queen with an expression of reserved sadness.

Mashiro had watched the whole event with a look of horror frozen on her face. Her Meister had failed, and now it was time to pay her end of the bargain. Akane fought to keep her eyes dry and could only speak a few choice words to try and ease Mashiro's passing.

"Farewell, your Highness."

Akane turned and solemnly began walking back to her station beside King Kazuya's throne. In the next moments, Mashiro clutched her chest in pain as her heart beat its final time. She quickly collapsed to her knees amidst a series of painful groans, then sprawled silently to the floor and joined her Otome as a swarm of sparkling green particles that faded into the air. The queen was dead, and Kazuya's reign over Windbloom would no longer be disputed to any serious extent.

That night, Akane quickly fell into a deep slumber in her specially decorated servant's room as a result of her weariness. Despite succumbing to a slight fever from overexertion, she dreamed of the peace her king would bring, and the new royal bloodline she would bear the country of Windbloom when she finally retired and married him. She hadn't forgotten her obligations as an Otome, however, and was fully determined to remain a warrior as long as the Columns War raged and the country had to be defended.

King Kazuya made sure Akane was tended to by the best physicians in the kingdom during her recovery. When Windbloom's Meister Otome returned to full health, she continued to stand by the king's side and awaited her next orders from the Columns.

* * *

><p>At the time of the Blue Sky Sapphire's defeat, a warrior clan calling themselves Aswad had been preparing its own counterattack against the Columns. Aswad was one of the few societies of Earl that defended itself through technologies other than the Otome system, and clan leader Midori Sugiura came to the conclusion that it was imperative to begin their attack when news came of Empress Mashiro's sudden death.<p>

Prior to these events, Aswad's scientists were busy excavating an amazing discovery of fossilized ancient creatures in the Black Valley region of Earl. These findings greatly resembled the trained mechanical beasts they currently used in tandem with cybernetic armor to defend themselves. Samples of the fossils were combined with Aswad's current nanotechnology, allowing them to be gradually revived and studied. When the decision was made to attack Windbloom, one of these cloned robotic beasts was taken out of captivity and trained to make a lone surprise attack for Aswad. It was a large, cat-like beast made of yellow and gray steel, with sword-shaped obsidian spikes growing from the back of its neck. When forced to fend for itself, a large motor emerging from the creature's chest would begin to spin and allow it to bring any target to its claws with a strong pulling wind. It was determined that the monster's surprising speed and agility made it the most suitable weapon to storm Castle Windbloom while avoiding unnecessary causalities, and it was promptly put into service with Midori's approval.

The mechanical tiger relentlessly dashed to Windbloom's borders under its masters' commands to kill Emperor Kazuya and his Otome. Just as anticipated, when it finally entered the country and breached the imperial city, pedestrians and guards alike quickly cleared from the great monster's path in sudden fear for their lives. Having received the initial reports that Aswad had launched one of its weapons toward Windbloom, the Emperor authorized Akane to use her Robe and she was sent to intercept and eliminate the aggressive beast. When she found the creature about to charge the castle gates, it stood in place with its steel claws sinking into the stone road and delivered a mighty metallic roar. A group of standard castle guards huddled back in fear, and Akane protectively placed herself between the creature and her men with her tonfa in hand.

Upon closely observing the cybernetic creature, Akane was taken by a sudden feeling of deja vu, and she was surprised to notice her feline opponent's colors matched those of her own weapons. At the same time, the beast's mechanical growls subsided as it finally made eye contact with its target. Its polished armored tail began waving playfully in the sunlight as if the creature was meeting its true master for the first time in ages. Taken aback by this exchange, Akane wasn't sure what to do next. On one hand, the submitting beast hadn't actually wounded any of the subjects it had passed, and maybe sparing it and capturing it could turn Aswad's efforts to Windbloom's favor. On the other hand, Akane couldn't come to explain the sudden wave of compassion she had for this animal, and it would be a great risk if it was purely her imagination at work and it was allowed to reach the Emperor. After a moment of thought, she made her decision.

* * *

><p>Tame the beast: Go to Chapter 30<p>

Attack: Go to Chapter 31


	30. Chapter 30

Akane decided there may be merit in her strange thoughts, so she made her tonfa disappear from her hands and return to stasis. The pearly heels of her Meister Robe clicked softly as she cautiously walked across the stone castle road and came to rest directly in front of the silent robotic tiger. She signaled the guards behind her to step down, then knelt to one knee and pet the beast's steel head as she spoke nurturingly.

"There, there, boy. Relax."

In response, the calmed creature inhaled Akane's scent to confirm its instinctive suspicions, then slowly placed its warm armored muzzle between her Robed arm and hip to embrace her. Akane's eyes first widened with surprise when she began feeling the creature somehow silently communicate with her, but then returned to a relieved expression as the two formed a bond that continued to feel mysteriously familiar.

"Your name is... Hari? And you don't want to be an orphan anymore?"

The metallic tiger brushed its head against her side in response and let out a soft mechanical purr. Akane smiled toward her new acquaintance and spoke again.

"Okay, Hari. I'll take care of you."

With this, Akane rose back to her feet and walked back toward the castle as the tiger loyally walked by her side. It no longer tried to frighten anyone it could see was Akane's ally, and it harmlessly approached the king when Akane deactivated her Robe and returned to the Windbloom throne room. To the surprise of everyone in attendance, when Akane returned to her station beside the throne, the gentle monster followed her up the stairs and sat on its hind quarters on the opposite side of Kazuya. It remained like this with its tail contently brushing the carpeted floor as long as Akane was guarding the king, and it followed her any time she was needed elsewhere in the castle. That night, it recharged its internal generator by curling itself on the floor of Akane's room and peacefully sleeping in front of her bed.

In the subsequent days, Akane explained what had happened to the Columns and pleaded that they spare the creature. Although they finally gave in to Akane's demands, they still felt it was unwieldy to have such a fearsome weapon following Windbloom's soft-spoken Meister around, so a compromise was made. Column Mahya's GEM already featured an ability that allowed her to summon a similar creature that mimicked her movements in battle, and the tamed tiger emitted an energy signature oddly similar to the nanomachines in Akane's body, so the Columns were able to alter the programming of Akane's GEM and link it to Akane's feline partner with relative ease. The molecules that made up the mechanical tiger could now separate and be stored in stasis in the Pure Heart Malachite GEM when not in battle, allowing Akane to "carry" her partner anywhere much to her content. Additionally, this allowed her new armored pet to heal its injuries using the energy from Akane's nanomachines. It could even recover from death blows as long as Akane gave it enough time to rest in stasis.

With Akane relieved that she found a peaceful solution to her plight, she continued to guard the King of Windbloom every day. It would only be a matter of time before Aswad made its next move.

* * *

><p>After Akane had spent more time defending Windbloom from invasion, she was allowed to take a short leave in the imperial city while the king tended to political matters. Night had fallen and the lamps of the streetlights were lit as Akane took in the frolicking street life of her kingdom. She was continuously greeted by passersby who noticed her signature white and gray formal uniform as she walked through the streets and stopped at a luxurious restaurant to eat. When it was time for her to return to the castle, guards had come to escort her back to her home in a horse-drawn carriage. The leader of the troupe saluted her and courteously offered her the ride.<p>

"My Lady, the king requests your presence in the throne room."

Akane was left to decide how she would take the trip home.

* * *

><p>Take the carriage ride back: Go to Chapter 32<p>

Walk back alone: Go to Chapter 33


	31. Chapter 31

Akane brushed aside her strange doubts as her imagination playing games with her and raised her tonfa into a battle position. The robotic tiger responded by returning to its aggressive posture and resuming its tinny growls. Just as Akane was about to pounce forward, the gray engine on the creature's undercarriage began to spin and generate a force that interrupted her balance. She quickly realized the beast was using the direct opposite of her own Robe's most powerful ability, creating a vacuum of wind that pulled her forward rather than blasting her back. She quickly activated the motors on her wrists and ankles in an attempt fly against the flow of air, but found herself unable to escape the large cat's spiraling power.

Akane was suddenly overcome with terror when her flight devices gave way entirely, her tonfa flew from her hands, and she was uncontrollably drawn toward her attacker. The great beast stood on its armored hind legs to catch its prey in its steel jowls, and Akane responded by screaming in pain as she felt the monster's silvery fangs pierce her side. She continued to whimper and sob as the metal tiger hungrily squeezed its fangs further into her soft exposed belly and nearly cut her in two at the waist. Her Robed body soon fell limp in the creature's jagged grip, causing the the long ribbon hanging from her lower back to lazily brush against the stone ground. By the time Akane's lifeless remains burst into green flame and dissolved from the creature's mouth in glowing embers, the guards had recollected themselves and overwhelmed their target in an organized attack. Since Aswad's technology wasn't as advanced as Garderobe's, the monster's hide gave way under the guards' normal steel swords, and it slumped to the ground after being reduced to a royal pincushion. Although the beast's carcass could be salvaged for scrap metal, it was too late to save the king, who suddenly grabbed his side in pain in the throne room and quickly disappeared in the same spectacle as his fallen Otome.

The great beast's sacrifice was not in vain. With the Pure Heart Malachite's defeat and the subsequent death of Windbloom's king, Aswad had taken the war out of the Columns' favor. They soon had the capacity and the morale to eliminate the Columns themselves in similar attacks, and the rest of the free world gradually joined Midori's cause. The War of the Five Columns ended with the Columns' defeat.

THE END.


	32. Chapter 32

Akane smiled and politely bowed to the leader of the guards as she accepted the ride.

"Thank you, sir."

The gentle Meister was driven back to the castle to meet with King Kazuya and discuss some minor changes in defensive strategies the Columns had come up with. The night remained uneventful when Akane left for her room to sleep, and she continued to guard her beloved ruler for days to come.

A few nights later, King Kazuya and his Meister were alone on the Windbloom palace balcony observing the starry sky. Suddenly, a falling star that seemed to fade from view just over the courtyard caught their attention. Akane felt an inexplicable chill through her spine the moment she spotted the shooting star, but Kazuya playfully insisted that the two should find where it landed.

* * *

><p>Look for the falling star: Go to Chapter 34<p>

Don't look for the falling star: Go to Chapter 35


	33. Chapter 33

Akane bowed to the leader of the guards as she politely declined his offer.

"Thank you, sir, but I'd rather walk back myself if it's not a problem. It's so nice outside."

The lead guard nodded as he replied to Akane.

"Very well, my Lady. But please be prompt."

Akane began making her way toward the castle. After the guards had disappeared from her sight, she crossed a stone bridge and approached a narrow street. As she passed this alley, two eager hands shot out from the darkness and quickly dragged her between the buildings. With one arm locked around her squirming waist and a hand cupped over her mouth to muffle her struggles, she was soon led to a secluded corner in the alleyway. Her captor continued to hold her in place against a wall with his hand now roughly around her throat, and she could soon see she was being held hostage by three young men close to her age under the dim city light. One of her captor's colleagues spoke first.

"So this is Windbloom's invincible defender, huh? She's just a little girl."

The boy holding the frightened Akane in place ran his hand through her short bob cut hair, then glided his fingers across one of his prey's bare shoulders and down the long silky white glove of her formal dress as he spoke.

"She's pretty cute, though, and she's got a great body. I wish she was wearing that slutty combat suit of hers for this, but beggars can't be choosers."

The third accomplice spoke last after a hearty chuckle.

"I don't mind that. She looks like she's going to be a lot more fun than that Arika girl would have been either way."

After fighting off a sudden sting of regret from hearing her fallen peer's name, Akane resumed her struggle and spoke through grit teeth.

"Who are you people?! Let me go!"

The three young men laughed in unison, then one spoke.

"I'm afraid we can't do that, Lady Soir. We've been paid quite handsomely by a certain third party to make sure you'll be removed as a threat tonight."

Akane gasped softly before resuming her angered tone.

"Aswad sent you?!"

Another one of the boys answered with a mischievous grin.

"Hmm. Maybe, maybe not. We promised not to tell. What we can tell you, though, is that your candidacy as an Otome is now forfeit."

Akane's face filled with terror before she thrashed out in response. In retaliation, the two young men with free hands locked her gloved arms against the wall the same way the third attacker pinned her neck. If she had been Materialized, she easily could have thrown the three off with her nanomachines' augmented strength or summoned her mechanical partner to safely scare the attackers away. Without a current link to her king, however, she was unable to use any of her GEM's features. She continued to question the thugs as she struggled desperately.

"You mean you're going to... ?"

As Akane's soft voice faded in fear, the men chuckled again and the leader of the trio spoke.

"That's right, sweetie. We're going have a good time with you so you lose your Otome powers."

* * *

><p>Beg to be let go: Go to Chapter 38<p>

Use aggressive measures: Go to Chapter 39


	34. Chapter 34

Akane eventually agreed to help Kazuya find the remains of the shooting star. After all, Kazuya was the king, and it was her duty to respect his wishes.

The couple left the balcony and approached the courtyard within the castle grounds. It wasn't long before they noticed a small, smoldering ashtray of celestial debris cooling down underneath a tree. Akane approached this sight beside her ruler with an increased nervousness growing inside of her, but Kazuya peered at the remains with a genuine wonder and awe.

In the center of the small crater was a slowly disintegrating black diamond that appeared to be polished and reflected the moon's light. Kazuya continued to stare at the object with a curious expression frozen on his face for some time, and Akane tried to grab his attention with a gentle tug to his arm.

"Um, Kazu? Don't you think we should get going?"

The king seemed oblivious to his protector's words and only continued to stare at the glowing black meteorite.

"Kazu? Please?"

Akane gave Kazuya's arm a stronger tug.

"Are you okay, Kazu?"

Kazuya's expression still remained the same. Akane was quickly overcome with desperation.

"Hey, Kazu! Come on!"

Just as the last pieces of the shining black rock disappeared into orange embers, Akane's words broke Kazuya's concentration. The young king shook his head a few times as if to shake away some invisible cobwebs before finally breaking his silence.

"It was really pretty, wasn't it, Akane? Too bad it melted. We could have kept it as an heirloom."

Akane smiled in relief as she nodded. Kazuya returned his lover's expression before speaking again.

"Of course, I still have you. I don't really need anything else."

The couple shared a lengthy kiss, much to Akane's delight. When the kiss ended, Kazuya placed his hand over Akane's and spoke.

"You're right. It's getting late. Let's go back."

Akane and Kazuya returned to the castle interior, where they quickly parted ways to head for their separate bedrooms. Akane briefly struggled to fall asleep that night as she continued to be plagued by a small amount of lingering fear, but she eventually blamed her nerves on the matter and closed her eyes with her peace of mind mostly restored.

* * *

><p>The next morning, Akane dressed in her Meister uniform and approached the king's quarters to escort him to the throne room as she did every day. She was quickly taken by shock when she opened the door and noticed Kazuya was sitting up in his bed still in his sleeping clothes. He had been observing his room with a strange bewilderment, and he quickly turned his head to Akane and shot a dark glare at her when he heard the door open. As the embarrassed Otome was taken aback, Kazuya finally turned to a large mirror adjacent to his bed and gazed into his reflection before slowly shaking his head. He muttered a few sarcastic words in an unusual tone under his breath so Akane wouldn't hear.<p>

"Great, the Hime Star reincarnated me as this twerp. I'll be dead by sundown."

While Kazuya grumbled in disappointment, Akane's eyes fluttered wide open and she quickly began exiting the room.

"Ah, Kazu, I'm sorry! If I knew you had slept in late, I wouldn't have barged in!"

Kazuya's cold glare soon turned to a cheerful smile when he finished analyzing his surroundings. In reality, an ancient alien consciousness had entered his mind while he was gazing at the black meteor debris the previous night. This new entity had awakened and fully taken control of Kazuya's body that morning, and now he had a charade to put on if he wanted to make his long journey worthwhile. He raised his voice and began speaking much closer to Kazuya's usual friendly tone.

"It's fine, Akane. I'm the one who should be apologizing for scaring you."

As Akane turned around in place and glanced back toward the yawning king with a reassured smile, Kazuya continued to speak.

"Come here, Akane."

The boy playfully motioned for Akane to sit on the side of the bed as he shifted his legs under the covers to make room for her. Akane nodded and peacefully walked across the carpeted royal chamber before situating herself beside Kazuya's knees. After his Meister was seated, Kazuya lifted his hand to grasp her chin and slowly turn her face to his. The moment her light brown eyes made contact with his, Akane gently fell into a trance-like state that echoed her king's strange actions during the previous night. As she continued to gaze affectionately into his eyes, Kazuya began issuing her orders for the day.

"Akane, I want you to find the most powerful Otome on Earl. Don't harm her, though. Just bring her here so I can persuade her to..."

Kazuya's words trailed off when something suddenly occurred to him. Akane could hear her king think to himself aloud, but lacked the willpower to react to his bizarre words.

"Wait. If I can take physical form at all, that must mean... HER reincarnation was killed."

Kazuya continued to think to himself as the alien entity controlling him began accessing his more recent thoughts and memories. A sudden expression of shock appeared on his face when he recalled the events surrounding the sudden death of Queen Mashiro.

"Amazing..."

The king continued to look into his Meister's eyes with a new curiosity.

"I've never even payed attention to Harimau users. They always turn out to be the runt of the litter."

Kazuya's expression turned to a sinister smirk.

"She may not be the strongest on her own, but to think that level of dedication has been right in front of me this entire time..."

As Akane remained in her trance, her lingering feelings of fear from the previous night slowly faded away. She could see that Kazuya was not himself based on the way he was speaking, yet some silent instinct was continuously assuring her that this was indeed the same young man she had first met when she was a Coral many years ago. Through a strange feeling of familiarity, Akane understood what had overcome Kazuya and why this was happening, but at the same time the person speaking was still the young ruler she deeply loved. It was as if these strange changes in personality were a natural part of Kazuya.

When Kazuya was confident his power had seduced the Otome seated next to him, he slowly pulled her into a deep kiss. Akane was quick to cheerfully return the gesture, and she closed her eyes and sighed as her lover embraced her. After the two finally parted, Kazuya spoke to himself again while Akane returned to her quiet trance.

"Hmm. She tastes much sweeter than any of the previous brides. I suppose I could get used to it if she doesn't reject me like the others, though..."

As the pondering king continued to look into his protector's twinkling eyes, he began to feel a slight tinge of sympathy for the girl. Akane's caring glance was starting to influence his judgment in almost the same fashion he had used his own power to subdue her. The ancient spirit that had assimilated Kazuya's consciousness now felt that it would be too cruel to reduce Akane to an expendable tool and rob her of her beloved like he had done to all of her previous incarnations ages ago. After a few more moments of inner thought, Kazuya made his final decision and a friendly smile crossed his lips. He began gently brushing his fingers through Akane's short brown hair as he spoke in a dark voice.

"Akane, I want you to kill the Columns. I want us to be the only ones to lead the world into the new era. I'll supply you with the forces to do this, of course, but I entrust everything to you."

Akane bowed her head obediently. She realized this would make Kazuya the sole ruler of the world once the war ended, and she couldn't be happier for her cherished king.

"As you wish, Obsidian Lor-..."

Kazuya quickly raised an extended index finger to her lips and interrupted her in a gentle tone.

"There's no need to be so formal, Akane. I don't expect you to pretend we're not already more intimate than that."

Akane nodded playfully and rested her head on Kazuya's shoulder.

"Okay, Kazu."

Kazuya grinned with satisfaction and continued speaking in his deeper voice.

"Speaking of intimacy, we should make our marriage official."

Akane blinked a few times in uncertainty, but quickly realized what lewd act Kazuya was referring to in this context. A deep blush formed on her cheeks as she inched her seated position away from her master's advances. Her voice conveyed embarrassment while she spoke in a hushed tone to prevent drawing attention to Castle Windbloom's royal chambers.

"Ka-... Kazu! You know I can't do that right now! We're still at war, and I still need my powers to protect you!"

Kazuya only chuckled softly as he reached around Akane's waist and delicately drew the shy girl back toward him. He replied to Akane's objections with no concern in his voice.

"Yes, about those silly limits you humans put on the technology I left you..."

Kazuya's hand slowly traced down the back of Akane's white dress and stopped a little below her left shoulder blade. Akane suddenly winced as she felt a short stinging sensation on her back, and she cautiously looked over her shoulder to assess the damage Kazuya had done. There were no marks on her uniform, but, the next time she undressed and examined her bare back, she would be able to see a small red tattoo resembling an inverted "Q" now marking her in the same place Kazuya had caressed her. When Akane looked into the young king's eyes again and her worried expression faded, Kazuya smiled warmly and continued speaking.

"There. We'll be sharing our life force just as we have been, Akane. However, as long as I allow my brand to stay on you, you'll be able to Materialize your equipment regardless of your body's physical state."

Akane's eyes filled with a new delight as she responded softly.

"Thank you, Kazu."

Kazuya gave a warm grin in response and slowly pulled Akane closer into his embrace before speaking tenderly to his mate.

"So, no more interruptions. Let's consummate our marriage."

Akane nodded in agreement. In the next few moments, the couple performed an act that bound Akane's very soul to the entity that had merged with Kazuya's mind.

* * *

><p>At King Kazuya's urging, Akane resumed her station beside the Windbloom throne and the couple continued to act just as they had prior to Kazuya's sudden change of heart. They carefully kept their affair secret from the Windbloom court, but they continued to meet alone each evening to discuss Kazuya's plan of attack. Akane quickly discovered that the Pure Heart Malachite Robe continued to function with the king's authorization just as he had promised, and she grew confident in her ability to defeat the Columns when Kazuya demonstrated he could summon a grand army of armored beasts in the same nature as Hari to support her.<p>

After a few more days of planning, the Windbloom king finally gave the order to crush Garderobe. Akane launched from Castle Windbloom in her Robe that morning and led a large group of flying monsters to the military academy's grounds. The Columns answered the attack personally, but quickly found themselves outmatched by Akane's swift attacks combined with the size of her forces. The five young women put up a valiant fight, but ultimately gave up their lives in this battle and left Garderobe without leadership. After Kazuya gently issued new orders to Akane through her GEM's radio receiver, she ruthlessly continued her attack and quickly wiped out the Coral and Pearl students of the academy, as well as any Meisters who were on the Columns' side. As a result of this sudden attack, King Kazuya was now able to claim the countries the Columns had previously conquered as his own.

Similar merciless attacks were soon brought to the remaining free countries of Earl. When the campaign ended, Akane was the world's only active Otome who had not been brutally killed in battle by vastly overwhelming numbers, and this fact became the main reason no one would ever openly challenge Kazuya's now-global dictatorship. The Windbloom king had won the War of the Five Columns and united humanity under a single flag, but he did so by apparently shedding his morality and becoming a bloodthirsty tyrant with a murderous Otome in a way not even the former nobles of Chaldea would have predicted.

With the war over, King Kazuya publicly announced Akane to be his chosen wife and the Queen of Earl. The people of Earl gradually began to thrive in their forced peace.

* * *

><p><em>Epilogue:<em>

King Kazuya awoke one morning to find the queen's place on his bed strangely absent. His spiritual bond to her made him feel slight anxiety as he exited the bedroom, but he was soon relieved when he heard Akane's muffled voice gently humming a lullaby in the room of the royal family's firstborn child. He was then briefly surprised when he realized the notes of Akane's soothing melody belonged to "Ensei," a ritualistic song that had once been shared amongst small circles of shrine maidens before being forgotten long ago. However, Kazuya smiled to himself when he decided Akane must have been influenced by some of her past lives, as her most ancient incarnations had been trained to perform the original song and were all too familiar with hearing it being used as a funerary hymn after the opening event of a certain ritual. The silent king was sincerely moved by Akane finding a much more joyful reason to revive the song.

After approaching the baby's room and quietly opening the door, Kazuya saw that the child was outside of his crib and situated within his mother's arms as he contently suckled from her open imperial gown. Akane was seated in a decorated rocking chair in the corner of the room and slowly pivoted back and forth as she hummed. Hari was sprawled across the carpeted floor a few feet in front of the rocker, emitting a low mechanical purr and guarding his vulnerable master as she nursed her son. The great cat raised his head and looked toward the door in full alert when it was opened, but quickly returned to his relaxed state when he saw the familiar sight of King Kazuya standing in the doorway. While this happened, Akane modestly closed her gown around herself and her infant son as she gazed at the king with a cheerful expression.

"Good morning, Kazu. Suizei was fussing when I woke up, so I decided to give him breakfast a little earlier today."

Kazuya nodded in understanding and stepped forward to pet Hari on the head rewardingly. He spoke in a soft voice as to not disturb his heir.

"Has he quieted down?"

Akane peered down toward her son and offered a motherly smile.

"Mmhmm. He's a lot happier now."

When the baby was finished with his meal, Akane lifted him in her arms so he could perch his chin on her shoulder. He began quietly babbling as he playfully tugged on his mother's bobbing brown hair with his tiny hands.

Kazuya approached the rocking chair and leaned forward so his eyes were level with Akane's. He spoke in his natural voice; making no attempt to silently quell Akane's mind as he had done before.

"Akane, if you don't mind me asking, where did you learn that beautiful song you were just humming? I've never heard any of the musicians in Chaldea or Windbloom use it."

Akane closed her eyes and continued to slowly rock her son as she entered deep thought.

"It's strange, but I heard it in my dreams. Or nightmares, really. I started having them around the time you decided to attack the Columns. They all take place a really long time ago, and I'm always wearing priestess robes and fighting another girl in a shrine. I'd have Hari to support me, and the other priestess would have some other creature helping her. She's usually someone I knew from Garderobe, but I remember fighting President Chrysant at least once."

Akane's eyes opened again and looked into Kazuya's curious eyes lovingly. She continued her narration with a youthful enthusiasm in her voice.

"You're there to watch me fight, too. One time, you were a monk when I was a priestess who worked at the shrine. Then you were a noble's son when I was one of your maids, or you were a traveling soldier when I was your party's healer, or you were a foreign prince when I was a native princess..."

A slight blush formed across the bridge of Akane's nose after she paused.

"...or you were the young landowner who sponsored my mizuage."

Akane shook her head a few times to bring herself back to the present and remind herself that the innocent ears of her child were listening. Her hopeful tone returned as she spoke.

"I can't quite explain it, but, in every dream, I was fighting for some sort of prize. The reward was supposed to be a lot more valuable than just a large sum of money or a piece of land, but the other priestesses and I were warned the punishment for losing was the person we cherished the most being sacrificed."

Despite Akane's grim words, a peaceful smile remained on her face.

"We each had to bring our potential sacrifice to the shrine before the fighting started. A few of the other priestesses would try to fool the temple elders by naming a lesser offer and hiding who they cared for the most, but the elders were able to peer into our thoughts and could always tell who our hearts truly yearned for. We were all told our sacrifices wouldn't be acceptable if the loss wasn't great enough to make us pour our full emotions when we were defeated. It was all very cruel, but it was our responsibility to satisfy the deity we were holding the contest for."

Akane looked down and to the side to hide a sudden fit of shyness.

"The signs of affection I displayed around you were usually pretty obvious, though, and I could never bring myself to deny I was deeply in love with you when it was my turn to be questioned. You'd always be hesitant toward letting me fight after I would be chosen, but the elders made sure we both understood I'd be angering the gods and putting the world in danger if I didn't participate."

Akane's amber orbs looked toward Kazuya again, and he noticed they now gave off an energetic sparkle. It was the same sight that had influenced the king many months ago.

"Besides, no matter who I was, I had already made up my mind to defeat the other girls so I'd have a handsome dowry to give you when we married."

As the queen spoke, her husband smiled in admiration of her words. The Windbloom ruler's old mind was beginning to understand how many opportunities he had missed in the past, and he almost cursed himself for the eons he spent in unnecessary solitude. The sound of Akane's angelic voice combined with the fact his waiting had finally come to end settled his silent anger, however, and he continued to listen in gentle awe. Akane closed her eyes as her thoughts wandered to her own memories.

"In some ways, the dreams felt a lot like when I fought Arika to secure your throne."

When Akane's eyes opened again, they gazed toward Kazuya longingly and began to water. Her voice became weaker as she conveyed her next words.

"But when something happened to me or Hari, you'd suddenly collapse and struggle to breathe. No matter what I did in battle, either I would be wounded and you and I would would die together, or Hari would be killed and you'd die in my arms. Most of my dreams turned out the second way. The rest of the girls would be in the shrine watching, and they would start singing that song to try and comfort me while your body disappeared."

Kazuya listened to Akane's account with a solemn expression on his face as his suspicions were confirmed. He noticed she was shivering slightly, and he reached out to her cheek to carefully wipe away some tears that had fallen from her eyes with the tips of his fingers.

"Akane, you don't have to talk about it if you don't want to..."

Akane quickly shook her head in the middle of her king's worried statement. Her tears soon dried as she peered down to her baby and her mind returned to brighter thoughts.

"It's fine, Kazu. Ever since the war ended, the nightmares stopped, and thinking about that song by itself doesn't scare me anymore. Suizei seems to really like it, too, so I'm not going to forget it."

Akane's palm shifted up from the child's shoulders and began massaging the back of his head. Her brown eyes now sported a new look of curiosity.

"Still, what do you think it all means, Kazu?"

The young king responded with a warm grin as he spoke. He could have told her the full truth, but he decided to simplify her experiences in a way that would be far less sorrowful for her.

"I don't think it means anything, Akane. Maybe your mind just found a strange way of expressing the guilt you felt toward all the other Otome you had to kill, and you were imagining yourself as them. It makes sense, and the fact your nightmares have stopped probably just means, deep down, you've realized it was all necessary."

Kazuya reached out and slowly brushed his hand over her head, starting from her forehead and ending at the tips of her short hair.

"Besides, all of the other girls in your dreams are gone, right? Nothing can take me away from you now."

Akane nodded happily at Kazuya's last statement. His words had completely put her remaining worries to rest, and she never found reason to explore the issue further. Kazuya leaned a few more inches forward and the couple silently shared a passionate kiss as their child continued cooing.

For better or worse, Akane achieved her wish of helping Kazuya maintain peace over Windbloom and bearing his bloodline. At the same time, Kazuya finally found what he spent millennia searching for in his current form: An obedient wife who was neither too clingy nor too independent for her own good, and would accompany him in shaping the world in his vision.

THE END.


	35. Chapter 35

Akane eventually convinced a begrudging Kazuya that it was safer to stay on the balcony for the rest of the evening. When the two later parted ways for their respective bedrooms in the castle, Akane felt the fear that was brought by the shooting star fade from her mind. She fell asleep in a much more peaceful mood, and the mysterious feeling of dread never returned.

* * *

><p>The kingdom of Windbloom was thrown into chaos when Aswad finally made a full-scale attack. Caught off guard by such a bold move, the Five Columns were eliminated swiftly by the invading force's combination of cyborg warriors and mechanical monsters. After the king activated her GEM, Akane was left to defend Castle Windbloom with only a few Garderobe Pearls and defected Meisters under her charge. The first enemy to reach the throne room was a tall knight in wide black armor. This was Rad, the invading clan's veteran berserker, and Akane was able to defeat him quickly when she proved to be far too fast for the mechanical fighter's slow-moving attacks.<p>

While Akane was recovering from her battle, she received word from the castle guards that the Aswadian leader Midori had suddenly landed on Castle Windbloom's roof on her flying robotic chariot. This was a red steed with a long blade for a snout, which Midori called Gakutenou. When Akane stepped outside of the castle and levitated to the top of her castle, Gakutenou was missing, but the red-haired clan leader was awaiting Akane armed with a great halberd and her REM. This wrist-mounted device functioned similarly to an Otome's GEM earring and allowed her to summon her companion beast, but it didn't change Midori's physical appearance and only augmented her physical strength while she stayed dressed in her typical barbarian clothes.

Akane landed on the opposite end of the castle roof and cautiously summoned Hari to her side. Midori sported a sudden expression of shock upon realizing her opponent had turned Midori's former attack weapon against her, but grasped her halberd in a combat stance. As Akane raised her Robe's tonfa in a similar manner, she made her next plan of attack.

* * *

><p>Attack directly: Go to Chapter 36<p>

Send Hari: Go to Chapter 37


	36. Chapter 36

Akane commanded her feline companion to hold its ground, then charged forth by herself. She quickly noticed the roof of the castle was vibrating under her as she flew toward Midori, and Gakutenou's bladed muzzle suddenly emerged from the ground in front of her. If Akane had continued propelling herself forward, she would have been cut vertically in half by Gakutenou as if she were a wooden plank passing over a table saw, but her reflexes allowed her to change her path of flight and barely avoid her would-be killer. When she reached Midori, the Aswad leader blocked Akane's dual tonfa attack with the hilt of her halberd. Sensing his master to be in danger, Hari then dashed from his post and made his own charge toward Midori. He lowered his head to expose the bladed black quills on the back of his neck as he ran, turning his four-legged frame into a sort of metal battering ram.

Midori gasped as her struggle with Akane locked her in place and allowed two of Hari's blades to puncture her side. When Akane stepped back and lowered her offensive stance, Midori slumped over Hari's yellow and gray body. As her vital signs faded and her REM slowly ceased emitting energy, Gakutenou unceremoniously disappeared from his crater on Castle Windbloom's roof after letting out a final howl of sorrow. In her last breaths, Midori turned toward Akane and struggled to speak to her in a surprisingly friendly manner.

"Don't do anything stupid when you're in charge, okay?"

Akane initially found this particular request to be strange, but she quickly understood what it meant in this context. Aswad ultimately only wanted fair peace, and whatever remained of the tribe's hopes depended what she would do after marrying King Kazuya.

After announcing her final will, Midori closed her eyes and her arms fell lifelessly over Hari's back. She then toppled to the ground when Akane regretfully ordered Hari to return to stasis in her GEM. Despite her hostility toward Windbloom, the king pardoned Midori posthumously and gave her a respectful warrior's funeral.

With the last supporters of the late Queen Mashiro now dead, the rest of the world saw little hope in fighting the King of Windbloom and his Meister. The nations that hadn't already been conquered surrendered unconditionally to end the War of the Five Columns, and the world was unified under a single flag for King Kazuya to rule over. As the Columns themselves were lost in the final battle, Kazuya's reign went unhindered.

Akane soon retired as Windbloom's Meister and chose her successor from Garderobe's best soldiers. Her marriage to Kazuya and her coronation as queen soon followed, and she worked with her husband keep peace in the world's new state. Finally, just as she had dreamed, Queen Akane joyfully bore the beginning of Windbloom's new royal bloodline shortly after the marriage.

The new royal family ruled over Earl peacefully and diplomatically. King Kazuya and his wife eased the brutal suppression the Columns had placed on many of their conquests, and Windbloom's new Otome was ordered to exert aggression only when weapons were drawn against her first. The world would remain at peace for many generations to come.

* * *

><p><em>Epilogue:<em>

"How are you today, Arika?"

Queen Akane's gentle voice echoed throughout the main chamber of the Otome Catacombs in the lowest floor of Garderobe. She was standing within a circular garden of glass pillars, with her hand lightly pressed against one marked by a golden plaque that displayed Arika's name, birth and death dates, and a short statement about the master she had served. This was an eerie place to most visitors who realized what each of the numerous pillars represented, but it provided a homely feeling to Akane. It was as if she was watching over a second family here, in addition to her loving husband and children in Castle Windbloom.

"I'm sorry it's been a while. I've been so busy helping Kazu, I really haven't had enough time to visit."

She smiled as her hand remained in place.

"I promise I'll come twice as often for the next few weeks to make up for it."

Her expression changed to one of quiet guilt.

"It's okay if you're still angry at me for what I did to Mashiro and you. I just hope you can understand I only wanted Kazu to look strong and be safe. An Otome is supposed to fight for what she cherishes the most, right?"

Her eyes grew damp as her smile returned.

"I still consider you my friend, Arika, and I never thought less of you or Mashiro. I really miss you two."

She closed her eyes and sighed quietly.

"If nothing else, please let Mashiro know she left the kingdom in good hands. Kazu's always doing his best to follow her example, and the world is even more stable now than it was when you and I went here."

A polite but playful giggle escaped her lips.

"He'd come to visit himself, but you know Fumi's rules about allowing men on campus."

Akane finally removed her hand from the pillar and took a few steps backwards. She bowed respectfully to it before speaking again.

"It was nice talking to you again, Arika. I'll see you again soon."

The Queen of Windbloom quietly walked out of the chamber, allowing the room to return to peaceful silence.

THE END.


	37. Chapter 37

Akane commanded Hari to charge forth. The armored tiger growled and lunged toward Midori. Suddenly, Akane could feel the castle's concrete roof vibrate under her feet, and Gakutenou emerged headfirst from the ground between Akane and Midori to impale its oncoming enemy. However, Hari was able to use its remarkable agility to leap over Gakutenou's blade and use the red creature's armored hull as a platform to pounce at Midori. Midori blocked the attack with her halberd hilt, then quickly lifted her arms in the air to catapult Hari off the edge of the roof using her immense upper body strength. The mighty cat disappeared in the air and safely returned to Akane's GEM upon leaving the energy transfer range of Akane's nanomachines, and Akane made her own charge forward while Midori was open for attack. Midori was able to block this attack with the handle of her halberd as well, and she quickly staggered Akane's tonfa out of her hands and locked her shorter opponent in place. Akane's back was against Midori's chest, and she struggled to remove the iron bar of Midori's halberd with her Robed hands while it was firmly held horizontally across her neck. With her feisty opponent neutralized, Midori spoke tauntingly into Akane's ear.

"So, you can already use our weapons when you're in your Robe, huh? Since Rad's gone and there are still a few Otome protecting this place, we'll have to make use of you."

Akane pondered these words in fear as she was abruptly overcome in blackness. Midori had pulled her REM-bearing fist back and, with one hand still holding Akane in place with her halberd hilt, quietly incapacitated her catch with a swift punch to the temple. Midori then threw Akane's limp form over her shoulder, brushed the white ribbons of Akane's Robe out of her eyes, and commanded Gakutenou to fly back to Aswad's base after she called back the invasion forces. Upon arriving, Akane was quietly delivered to a medical camp in the heart of Midori's village. When Aswad's doctors assessed Akane's GEM was continuing to function under the new power source they connected it to, they went about their desperate plan.

As Akane was kept anesthetized on an operating table in her Robed form, the surgeons began carefully operating on her with special equipment and mummified her lithe body in bandages of electrical cables. Her heart was replaced by a small generator, her lungs were replaced by a cooling system, and a metallic shell was grafted to her Robe and skin. All that remained of Akane's internal organs in this abomination of flesh and machinery were her Robe-protected bones, central nervous system, and brain; the last of which was effectively destroyed when Aswad's A.I. program was installed. The Pure Heart Malachite suddenly disappeared from history when the helmet and glowing visor of Akane's new body were permanently fused to her sleeping face.

* * *

><p>Not much is known about the second time Aswad raided Garderobe and Castle Windbloom during the Columns War. The King of Windbloom and all of his remaining defenders were slain, and there were few survivors left to tell the tale. What little is certain from the accounts of terrified onlookers is that most of the slaughter was caused by a new weapon that had appeared in Aswad's ranks. It was a cyborg knight, much like Aswad's usual attack force, dressed in yellow and gray armor. However, this warrior had a noticeably diminutive and feminine look compared to its tall and bulky comrades. Its metal skin proved to be impervious to all forms of weapons, and it could attack with short bursts of flight in addition to charging on the ground.<p>

As a result of this bloodbath, the barbarian leader Midori took the throne of Windbloom by force and the war quickly ended. Midori claimed Windbloom in the name of the deceased Queen Mashiro and restored independence to the kingdoms the Columns had conquered.

THE END.


	38. Chapter 38

Akane began to beg in desperation after her captors' intentions were made clear.

"P-Please don't do this! I won't tell anyone if you let me go!"

One of the men delighted from her fear and replied with a smirk.

"No can do, little lady. We promised we'd make sure you lost your qualification tonight."

With their plan in place, the three young men wrestled Akane to the stone floor of the alleyway. After a few more moments of futile struggling, the three boys took turns making gracious efforts to retire the Pure Heart Malachite on the cold ground. When the despicable act was done, the leader of the group lifted the former Otome's light, exhausted frame into his arms and covertly delivered her to Windbloom's castle gates. When the guards found her, she was weeping and clinging to the tattered remains of her Meister uniform.

The king was taken by shock and disgust by this sight, but he was quick to comfort his now-powerless protector. While she was recuperating from the event, King Kazuya offered his hand in marriage, as the Columns would obviously have no objections to Akane leaving her post at this point. This helped mend Akane's wounded heart, but she still felt a faint sorrow that her first intimate moment couldn't be with her king. As the royal wedding took place, the Columns reviewed the current candidate Meisters loyal to Garderobe, and an Otome by the name of Tomoe Marguerite was named as the new Meister of Windbloom.

The king and his new queen were quick to consummate their marriage. When Queen Akane learned she was with child, she was overcome with a secret dread toward the events surrounding her abrupt retirement as a Meister. The king promised to claim the child as his own regardless of the findings of his doctors' tests, however. After the queen gave birth, she was fully relieved to learn the baby was her husband's legitimate heir.

With a slight bittersweet feeling, Akane realized her dream had come true. When the war finally ended in the Columns' favor, she and Kazuya were left to rule the unified world with their new bloodline and the Columns.

THE END.


	39. Chapter 39

In a moment of desperation, Akane was overcome by a violent impulse. It was something she had only felt for a few seconds during her battle with Arika, and now it was the only thing fueling her actions. With no regard for the safety of her three captors, she threw them back several feet with a sudden burst of strength before beginning her attack.

Akane leapt forward and grabbed the leader of the group's head in both hands. She gouged his eyes with her thumbs, staining her long white gloves with his blood before releasing her hold. This boy quickly fell to his elbows and knees screaming in pain as he clutched his oozing sockets, and Akane ended his misery with a swift high kick that sent the heel of her pearly shoe into the middle of his spine.

"You killed Shuuji, you bitch!"

The second of the assailants threw an angered punch at Akane as he berated her for her actions. The female fighter dodged this strike easily and parried to the back of her opponent. She reached out again, this time taking her opponent into a headlock. The last thing the young man felt was Akane's warm, soft breath grazing his neck and the curves of her smaller frame pressing against his back before she roughly shifted her arms, snapping his neck.

With two bodies now on the stone ground of the alleyway, Akane's brutal attention turned to her final would-be assaulter. The young man was slowly stepping backwards in horror as he begged for his life.

"H-hey Miss Soir… Lady Malachite… whatever you go by, we were just joking! P-please don't kill me!"

Akane's eyes narrowed in mistrust toward her enemy's pleas. She responded in a cold voice.

"How do I know you won't try something like this again?"

The boy only remained startled by this question. Without speaking further, he turned to run through the alley path Akane had been dragged down only moments earlier. However, the Windbloom king's skilled warrior predicted the young man's movements and used her remarkable agility to leap into the air over his head. She landed facing him, blocking his retreat and causing him to gasp in terror.

Akane silently reached out and grabbed her opponent's neck with one gloved hand. She then forcefully guided him into the wall of the narrow alley, cracking his head like an egg against the solid brick and killing him instantly.

After pushing the boy's limp corpse to the ground, Akane studied the carnage left lying in the alleyway and addressed her lifeless crowd. Although her eyes remained void of all emotion, her lips were curled into a soft smile.

"I'm sorry, but my body belongs to Kazu."

She closed her eyes and lowered her head in a bowing gesture.

"And it's my responsibility to protect everything he owns."

Akane turned around and quietly walked back to the city street she had been traveling. She fully returned to her usual gentle self by the time she arrived at Castle Windbloom. After politely informing the guards how she had been attacked and forced to fend for herself, she told them where to find the bodies of the three young men so the proper arrangements could be made. When the king became aware of what had happened, he showed a great concern for his Otome. However, Akane quickly vowed to always take the method of transportation he provided her with from this point forward, and the couple was simply happy that they were both safe.

* * *

><p>"You found them?"<p>

In a dark room in an undisclosed location, a young man with short silver hair was speaking on a phone to one of his associates. He tugged at a frayed string that was dangling from his dirty striped prison shirt in boredom, and he leaned back in his office chair as he replied to the garbled voice speaking to him through the receiver.

"What do you mean you found what's LEFT of them?"

He sighed in disbelief as he placed his palm to his forehead.

"Jeez. I never knew she had it in her. Guess her victory over the Blue Sky Sapphire wasn't a fluke after all."

A plotting smile crossed his lips.

"Well, actually, I'll have to thank her myself. Those three clowns were the only people who know where I've been hiding since the breakout, and it sounds like she took care of that liability quite nicely."

He shook his head while the voice spoke again.

"No, no. This doesn't muddle things too badly. We'll just have to move on to the alternate operation."

When he spoke to the person on the other end again, there was full confidence in his voice.

"Oh, I can have the Columns taken care of. It won't be their war for much longer."

He leaned toward the desk in front of him.

"Marvelous. Can't wait."

The young man placed the phone back on its stand to end his conversation. He then lifted a small photograph from the center of his desk. It was a picture of the Garderobe student body from several years ago, and the scheming boy's eyes focused on a smiling brown-haired girl wearing a white, frilled Trias uniform.

"So, Akane Soir, huh? Funny, I didn't even think about recruiting her when the King of Florince wanted her."

He shrugged at his past mistake and placed the photograph back on the desk.

"Oh well. Sounds like she'll be worth the wait."

The young man leaned back into his chair as he crossed his arms and contemplated to himself.

"Now Akane will be set for my…"

His thoughts were interrupted when the phone suddenly rang again. He jumped slightly in his seat in surprise, then shook his head to recollect himself before picking up the phone. He spoke to the caller in a hushed tone.

"Gray Weasel here."

He scratched his head, seemingly annoyed by whatever the person was telling him.

"What kind of 'startup problems'?"

He sighed before speaking again.

"Whatever. Take your time fixing it. My new plans are going to take some time, anyway."

The young man now appeared angered, and raised his voice slightly when he spoke again.

"Hey, if you're going to call me by my real name, at least make it DUKE Nagi. I may be in exile, but that doesn't change the fact I retain my power."

His coy smile returned when the caller begged for forgiveness.

"Very well. Contact me again when you get it fixed."

Nagi Dai Artai placed the phone back down, knowing he would soon have revenge for the humiliation Garderobe and the Columns had brought him in the past.

* * *

><p>"I swear on the tomb of my father, Bel Glan Artai, I had nothing to do with the jailbreak. Some radicals I have no control over broke into the prison and forced me to flee with them. I had no choice."<p>

Nagi spoke toward the opposite side of Castle Windbloom's round conference table in a falsely regretful tone. His ingenious scheme was going according to plan, but the most crucial step was still only moments away.

As the infamous war criminal spoke, his audience carefully watched his actions. King Kazuya was seated between two Columns on his left and three on his right, and Akane stood attentively behind and slightly to the side of his chair. The group had gathered here after Nagi contacted the king and begged for a simple assembly to hear his case. All members of this party peered toward their villainous guest with varying degrees of contempt, and Column Natsuki was the first to speak for them.

"Do you really think we're going to buy your bull, Nagi? We know Schwarz sympathizers have been active in Artai for the past several months. With your escape so conveniently timed, we know you're involved."

Natsuki was referring to a technologically advanced cult that had caused a world war several years ago, which Nagi had been the leader of.

"Believe what you will, Lady Kruger. However, all I ask is that you hear my plea before I turn myself in. I've already spent quite a bit of time suffering excruciatingly in your prison. Since I'm giving myself up willingly, I hope you will see I've reformed in my..."

The young warlord's words were interrupted by the sound of a gunshot coming from the roof of the large conference room. All figures seated at the table were startled by the noise, and their eyes collectively turned to a single window in the higher alcoves of the room. There stood a sniper in barbarian gear, and he raised his rifle while shouting in glory.

"Hail Aswad!"

The marksman's jaw clenched as if to chew something in his mouth, and he quickly dropped dead from the window frame after a thick foam grew from his mouth.

Nagi smirked to himself at this sight. It had been fairly easy for him to find someone willing to sacrifice their life under the promise of being remembered as a martyr for Schwarz's cause. Now the Aswad tribe had been framed, and the time had come for the last variable of Nagi's plan to fall into place.

When Akane's eyes returned to the back of her master's chair, they grew wide with shock as they saw Kazuya's hands hanging limply from each armrest. She quickly stepped to the front of the chair to see the young ruler lifelessly slumped forward, with a red stain on his royal attire spreading over his chest. She reached forward and began frantically rattling his shoulders.

"Kazu? Kazu?! Are you okay?!"

When it was clear all life had left her lover's body, Akane collapsed to the ground, pressed the side of her head against his knees, and let out a hysterical scream. She then looked up from her kneeling position to see Kazuya's sleeping face hanging over her before she shouted hopelessly.

"No... No! You can't die, Kazu! You have to live so we can end this war! You can't leave now, not after everything we've been through to be together! Wake up!"

As the Columns realized there was no hope left for Kazuya, Akane's painful lament filled the conference room and the five elite Otome began arguing amongst each other. The king was gone, and Akane wouldn't even receive the relative comfort of leaving with him since she was not Materialized. Natsuki broke her group's panic by issuing orders.

"Columns, get back to Garderobe and raise battle stations! We're under attack!"

In a frenzy, the five young women Materialized into their Robes and bolted from the room. The only persons left in the chamber after this sporadic moment were Akane, Nagi, and the bodies of the ill-fated king and his assassin. As Akane sank deeper into despair, she paid no attention to the sound of footsteps approaching her with great anticipation. She halted her sobs and turned her head only when she felt Nagi's hand gently rest on her shoulder, causing her to cast a rageful glare into the eyes of the exiled Archduke of Artai. The silver-haired noble returned her glance with a sly smirk.

"Poor Akane. You're an Otome with no master now."

Akane painfully grimaced at these words. Tears streamed down her face as she replied angrily.

"Leave me alone, Nagi!"

He closed his eyes and shook his head in sympathy.

"You're blaming yourself, aren't you, Akane? Don't do that. It's everyone else who's to blame. Your precious king wouldn't be dead if Aswad hadn't sent that assassin. He never would have been targeted if the Columns hadn't put him on the throne. The Columns wouldn't have even been able to start this war if the other countries hadn't allowed Garderobe to exist. It seems the entire world only wants to make you miserable."

Akane sniffed and peered downward in clouded thought. Her mourning state had impaired her ability to judge the words of a man well-known for his manipulative ways. When she looked up, the sight of the King of Windbloom's signet ring decorating his cold hand only reminded her of her new powerlessness. Finally, she weakly spoke.

"But... I can't do anything about it without Kazu..."

Nagi's eyes now lit with delight.

"I can grant you the power to punish the world for his death, Akane."

As he spoke, the Grand Duke lifted his hand from Akane's shoulder and brought it to her eyes so she could see the single black contract ring on his ring finger.

"You may not like me very much, but that doesn't bother me. I won't ask for your love, only your loyalty."

Nagi's words and the sight of his bachelor ring caused a new determination to spark inside of Akane's shattered mind. She knew she was signing a contract with a devil, but she didn't care. She had done everything she was told and everything she was trained to do. She had been the proverbial "Good Girl," and the world had repaid her by robbing her of the one thing she cared about the most. Her compassion had died with her only true love, and now it was buried by Nagi's promise of vengeance. She spoke coldly.

"I accept your terms."

The cult leader's lips formed a smile as he responded.

"Then I shall be your new master."

He carefully lowered his hand in front of Akane's mouth, and the embittered girl quickly leaned forward and firmly pressed her lips to the ring. She was starving for the power it would grant her.

After the contract was made, Nagi pulled his hand away and knelt to one knee in front of Akane. He kissed her earring to activate it for the first time under his new command, and the Pure Heart Malachite GEM beeped to life before it suddenly began emitting a dark glow. Nagi lifted himself back to his feet and stepped back slowly as he feigned a look of curiosity.

"Oh? What's this?"

Just as he had expected, the emotional toll the Windbloom king's death had left on Akane was affecting the nanomachines in the young girl's body. Her growing rage toward the people around her was adding to the GEM's power and permanently altering its configuration. When Akane rose to her feet, the aura engulfed her entire frame and began its Materialization process. When this dark energy condensed around her and faded, Akane was wearing a new Robe that looked much like her usual feline-themed outfit. However, the white material had changed to glossy black, the dark blue portions were now now an dreary gray color, the golden lining had become silver, and the once elegant cape and ribbon that hung from her back now both looked tattered and frayed.

Akane carelessly glanced downward toward her new Otome attire. Without saying a word, she closed her eyes and summoned a pair of black tonfa in each hand. The new form of her weapons still had the same general shape and glowing edges as before, but they now featured short spikes on the outer sides she could use to torture her opponents, and the end of each tonfa was armed with a set of curved blades that resembled a tiger's claws.

Nagi crossed his arms and grinned.

"Well, Pure Heart Malachite, it looks like you have some new tricks up your sleeve."

The young warrior replied with nothing but hatred in her voice.

"Don't call me that weak name anymore."

She clenched her eyes shut to prevent a new flood of tears from escaping.

"Innocence is a fraud. If I hadn't been so stupid, Kazu wouldn't have been killed. Now I'm going to fight to make the world understand where chasing your dreams gets you, and I want this Robe to be known as the Broken Heart Malachite."

Nagi snickered softly before speaking again.

"Suit yourself. So, are you ready for your first orders?"

Akane's eyes opened again before she answered with a single stern nod. Nagi clapped his hands together approvingly, then spoke.

"Destroy the Columns."

Akane's face lit with wicked delight toward the mission she was given.

"With pleasure, Master."

The metallic rings around Akane's ankles, wrists, neck and waist began pulsating with bands of silver light as she slowly levitated off the floor of the conference room. She then turned toward to the largest window facing Garderobe and launched toward her destination.

* * *

><p>Nao and Sara reconvened with their group after surveying the landscape below. The group of five women was now floating in a circle in Windbloom's airspace in their Robes, and Natsuki quickly questioned her arriving comrades.<p>

"Did you find anything?"

Nao shook her head.

"Nothing. There's no invasion force."

Shizuru spoke next.

"And nothing's out of the norm at Garderobe. It looks like he was their only target, and they got exactly what they wanted."

Natsuki muttered with anger in her breath.

"Damn it..."

Mahya turned her head toward Natsuki and spoke next.

"Who do you think it was?"

The blue-haired Column answered after a short pause in thought.

"Honestly, I don't know. This stinks of something Nagi would set up. With the way the war has gone lately, though, an actual Aswad hit is just as likely."

For the next few moments, the five female warriors hovered in their ring without saying a word. Despite being in complete silence, each member of the group was haunted by the same sound: Akane's wailing screams at the feet of her dead king. They realized how their own campaign for unifying the world had forever ruined the life of someone who had grown to be their close ally over the past few months. Shizuru finally broke the silence.

"It's all my fault. If I hadn't brought Akane here and made her join us, none of this would have happened. If I had just put her and Kazuya to rest when she surrendered in Chaldea, at least the two of them would have been together."

Nao shook her head in regret before adding.

"If I had known Aswad or Schwarz were this serious, I never would have agreed to putting Akane's boyfriend on the throne. We practically put a bullseye on him."

Mahya spoke next.

"We better go back to check on her."

Natsuki sighed before speaking.

"If she's in bad shape, I'm going to try and get some help for her."

Sara's misty eyes closed halfway.

"I just hope leaving her alone with Nagi wasn't another mista-..."

The other Columns barely had enough time to notice a black streak flying through the air behind Sara before the blonde-haired Column abruptly gasped in pain in the middle of her statement. The end of a spiked tonfa had impaled the Otome's back and erupted from her stomach, and she soon slouched lifelessly in the air before dissolving into an array of green particles. In her place now hovered Akane, eyes rabid and teeth grinding in fury.

"You killed Kazu!"

Before the remaining four Columns had any chance to react to Akane's rage-filled words, the violent Meister dashed forward and took a free slash at an unprepared Nao. The redheaded Column's eyes froze in horror as she was cut diagonally in half by an attack that started at her left shoulder and ended at her right hip. Her butchered remains quickly met the same fate as Sara's.

Akane screamed with crazed vigor as she focused her attention on her remaining three enemies.

"You're all to blame!"

Overcome with their own remorse, none of the remaining Columns could muster their full strength against their misguided sister. In a way, her delusional words were the truth, and her surprise attack was repentance that deserved little resistance. As a result, Akane was able to eliminate Natsuki and Shizuru both with exceptional ease, leaving her to focus her attention solely on the one surviving Column.

"And YOU! Why couldn't you have just let Kazu and me alone, Mahya?!"

When Akane dashed toward the lone Column to deliver the death blow, the tan-skinned Otome summoned her Robe's maraca-shaped weapons and held them in front of herself defensively. Although she lacked the time and willpower to use this unusual equipment to its fullest ability, she was able to block the single tonfa Akane had used to slash at her. As she struggled to hold this defensive position, Mahya desperately shouted.

"Akane, get a hold of yourself!"

Akane ignored her opponent's pleas and only responded with the same rage as before.

"Tell me how it feels to have YOUR heart torn apart!"

After saying this, Akane used her opposite tonfa to make an upward stab through an opening in Mahya's blocking stance. Mahya cried out in agony when the tonfa's blades pierced the left side of her unguarded chest. The merciless Otome then twisted the weapon with her wrist, causing Mahya let out a gurgling grunt as blood poured from the the sides of her mouth. Mahya was the last to join her fallen colleagues as a mist of glowing green embers, marking the end of the reign of the Five Columns.

With her mission complete, Akane lowered her gore-soaked weapons to her sides and returned them to her GEM. Her lips curled into a demented smile before she turned toward Castle Windbloom, where Nagi awaited her. As she flew toward her destination, she looked forward to her next mission with cruel excitement.

* * *

><p>While Garderobe Academy fell into a state of disarray as a result of suddenly losing its administration, Duke Nagi took the advantage to relocate Schwarz's headquarters to Castle Windbloom and effectively place himself on the country's empty throne. The most delicate part of the process was moving the monumental invention Nagi's supporters had developed in the core of his plans. When it was fully assembled in the lower bowels of Castle Windbloom, it took the shape of a giant metallic sphere surrounded by eleven obsidian pillars. The design of this bizarre machine reminded Akane of the underground graveyard in Garderobe's Otome Catacombs, and, had she known the purpose of this device ahead of time, she probably would have found that comparison to be very fitting.<p>

Nagi stood with his arms crossed in front of his magnificent creation, observing various computer screens monitoring the device's energy readings as it remained idle. Akane stood by his side with her hands folded over her lap. She was now wearing a new Meister formal uniform that mirrored the design of the dress she had used while serving Kazuya, only now colored in deep blue and gray. She spoke with curiosity in her voice.

"What in the world is this thing?"

Nagi replied proudly.

"This, my Otome, is the pinnacle of Schwarz technology combined with some interesting artifacts from this planet's previous culture. I like to call it Mjolnir."

"But what does it do?"

Nagi smiled at his servant's inquiries before replying.

"Before I explain that, let me say this: Those pillars you see are part of some sort of ancient weapon we uncovered while we were looking for a new energy resource. Our studies showed that, even when they're in the ideal arrangement, the structures don't actually create useful energy, but absorb it like a vacuum. At first, we didn't see any use in such an odd device and were going to push this project to the side, but then we noticed it only interacted with a very specific type of energy each time we activated it."

"What type?"

Akane's simple question caused Nagi's smile to turn into a diabolical grin.

"The energy created by the nanomachines of any Otome who's in the proper range."

He pointed forward so Akane would focus her eyes on his true marvel.

"That ball in the center is a radome we constructed to increase the device's efficiency. When fully charged and used in conjunction with the pillar arrangement, the range of this machine..."

Nagi now lowered his hand and began rapidly typing commands into the keyboard of the computer directly in front of him. Soon the screen was filled with a wireframe model of the planet Earl. On this model, a red dot was visible just over the location of Castle Windbloom. Within a couple of seconds, the dot grew in size until the entire globe was colored red.

"...exceeds the surface area of Earl."

Akane paused to think before questioning further.

"Is it lethal?"

Nagi snickered before speaking his next words.

"Indeed it is. Our initial field tests were a bit finicky, but now everything has been worked out. When this is activated, its energy field will set off a sort of 'kill command' that will automatically begin the nanomachine decomposition process you normally see when an Otome dies in her Robe. And just like that..."

Nagi snapped his fingers.

"...every Otome on the planet, Materialized or not, will be destroyed along with any contract masters connected to them in seconds. All dead due to a basic feature they placed in the system themselves."

Akane's eyes peered downward and to the side.

"So you're going to kill me when you're done with me..."

She had spoken in a voice void of emotion, taking this apparent news considerably well. Nagi only replied with a new bounce in his voice.

"Actually, Akane, that was never my plan. I was hoping on figuring out a way to spare you, but a solution ended up presenting itself. You see, you're a special case."

Nagi lifted his hand to Akane's earring and gently stroked the darkened Broken Heart Malachite GEM. The mutation of Akane's powers had been carefully calculated into his strategy, but he didn't need to tell her that.

"Since YOUR GEM has changed independently, it's more or less evolved outside of the bounds of the current Otome system. My life is still dependent on yours when you're Materialized, but you're no longer vulnerable to the Mjolnir's effects."

Akane thought nothing of this strange coincidence, and only questioned him in her usual cold voice.

"So you're going to rid the planet of all Otome, and then use me as a weapon to ransom the world for yourself?"

Nagi rubbed his palms together excitedly.

"That's my Akane!"

Nagi then lowered his hands and returned to a more professional posture before continuing to speak.

"Ahem... that is, of course, assuming you'll continue to serve me after the Otome are gone. I promise there will still be plenty of misery for you to bring."

Akane answered in a dark tone that even Nagi couldn't help but feel slightly spooked by.

"For what they did to Kazu, I'd make the world burn if I could."

Her voice now took on a relatively lighter character.

"So when will you use it?"

Nagi smirked again.

"I'd kick off the festivities now, but I have one more mission for you before I can be assured Mjolnir will have a safe activation. You must purge the world of our current closest rivals, the Aswad, yourself."

Akane's eyes widened with fury at the name. She answered almost immediately in a determined voice.

"Consider it done, my lord."

The warmonger chuckled before speaking.

"Ah, good. When you return, I shall announce the existence of this machine to the world, and you and I will be forever associated with the destruction of the Otome network. With the backup I'll give you, I'm sure you'll be strong enough protect the Mjolnir from whatever scraps of a resistance will left be with the Columns and Aswad both gone."

Akane pondered to herself, then spoke.

"Why would you do that? Wouldn't it be better to just use it unannounced and catch the Otome off guard?"

Nagi sighed and shook his head.

"Well, how would you rather have it done, Akane? Do you want the girls and their precious masters to have relatively quick, unexpected deaths, or would you rather watch them all come to the realization that they're seconds away from dying, knowing that they've failed, as punishment for taking your dear king away from you?"

Akane smiled to herself.

"I see the benefits of doing it your way..."

Nagi mischievously grinned at his Meister's decision.

"Splendid. So, are you ready for your new assignment, Akane?"

She gave a simple nod.

"Of course, Archduke."

With these words, Nagi stepped closer to Akane's side and gave the GEM on her ear a tiny kiss. Seconds later, Akane was donned in the Broken Heart Malachite Robe. She turned around and walked to the stairs that would lead her to Castle Windbloom's ground floor, leaving her scheming ruler to his devices.

* * *

><p>Aswad leader Midori Sugiura observed the destruction around her in disbelief. Her entire village and everyone she had known and loved surrounded her in burning cinders that lit the night air. All of Aswad's warriors, as well as the helpless women and children they had protected, were slain, and only one figure was still standing in the center of the chaos. It was a young girl in a Meister Robe with a playful hair decoration that contrasted with the heinousness of her actions. The girl stood with her back toward Midori, and her dark Robe, combined with the color and length of her hair, made the older clanswoman think back to a similar vicious attack Meister Fiar Grosse of Chaldea had made on the village years ago. Although Midori recognized it was Akane, it was as if her worst nightmare had returned tenfold.<p>

Midori growled and lifted her clenched fist. On the back of her hand was a large jewel called a REM, a device Aswad had developed to augment the user's strength much like an Otome's GEM. The device activated, causing a large halberd to appear in Midori's hand. As the enraged clan leader prepared for battle, Akane casually turned her head to look over her shoulder. She then turned in place before speaking in a vengeful tone toward Midori.

"So, you're their leader?"

Midori replied in anger.

"What of it, you monster?"

Akane lifted her tonfa into a fighting stance before answering.

"King Kazuya Krau-xeku is waiting for you in Hell."

Midori took her weapon into both hands and entered her own stance.

"I know how much you loved him, Akane, but we had nothing to do with his death. Nagi must be..."

Akane's face contorted with rage before Midori could finish. Even if she found out the truth behind Kazuya's death, she would probably still blame the world for allowing Nagi to engineer it.

"You're lying! I know you're the one who sent the assassin!"

The deranged Meister looked downward and shook her head violently before shouting toward Midori again. In her mind, her beloved king lying murdered in his grave was all the evidence she needed.

"Kazu died because of you!"

The metallic flight devices on Akane's Robe suddenly began glowing with silver lights, and she propelled herself forward while letting out a sorrowful battle cry. Midori answered by running toward Akane with her polearm pulled back. They both attacked when they met at the center of the Aswad village's burning ruins, and Akane's metal tonfa loudly clashed against the axe of Midori's halberd. The two women then positioned themselves a few feet apart after the meeting, and they both planned their next attacks.

Suddenly, Midori raised her REM toward the air and shouted.

"Gakutenou!"

This caused a large mechanical beast to appear in front of her. The creature looked somewhat like a giant horse with red armor and a long silver blade protruding from its snout.

Akane quickly recalled a similar creature slumbered in her GEM. She briefly considered how it would be fitting to destroy Aswad with its own poison. However, she thought, it may be more satisfying to end Midori's life with her own hands.

* * *

><p>Attack alone: Go to Chapter 40<p>

Summon Hari: Go to Chapter 41


	40. Chapter 40

Akane decided this battle would be hers alone, and she launched herself directly toward Midori despite the older fighter's change in tactics. She dodged Gakutenou when it lunged at her, then corrected her flight path to meet Midori head on. Akane then screamed in rage and lifted her tonfa above her head, causing Midori to hold her staff horizontally and raise it toward Akane. When the Otome swooped down and slashed with both tonfa, they were blocked by Midori's steady hold.

Akane growled through her teeth and pushed with all of her might to make Midori give way. She became so obsessed with this venture that she soon forgot about her second enemy on the battlefield. She was reminded only when she felt the shining blade on Gakutenou's head impale her from behind.

Midori lowered her weapon and slowly stepped backward after Akane cried out in agony. When the defeated Meister dropped her tonfa and began disappearing into a vapor of emerald-colored particles, Midori sneered and took her halberd into both hands.

"This is for my clan!"

Midori beheaded Akane's limp body with a single cut. Midori's trophy disappeared along with the rest of her opponent's remains, but it didn't matter. She had received justice.

In Windbloom's Castle, the members of Schwarz were taken by shock when Nagi suddenly screamed out in pain and quickly disintegrated in the same display as his Otome. Akane's failure had cost the cult their final chance for victory, as they could no longer use Mjolnir without the Archduke's authorization.

Windbloom was soon invaded by the few supporters that remained of the late Queen Mashiro. They were led by Midori, and their victory was swift after Schwarz lost most of their morale with the deaths of their leader and their only Otome. The dangerous Mjolnir weapon was destroyed in the attack, and the cult that had built it permanently dissolved. Midori and her followers restored the world its original state, and Garderobe Academy was eventually reopened in a severely limited form.

When the War of the Five Columns ended, history regarded Akane as nothing but the warrior-whore of the despicable Archduke Nagi Dai Artai.

THE END.


	41. Chapter 41

"Let's see how you like a taste of your own medicine."

Akane taunted her opponents before lowering her twin weapons to her sides and shouting.

"Hari!"

The Otome's call unexpectedly went unanswered. Her eyes turned toward the GEM on her ear before she quietly spoke again.

"Hari?"

She soon came to the conclusion that her altered GEM was no longer compatible with the summoning feature the Columns had programmed into it. She had lost her ability to call on her guardian as a result of Kazuya's death.

Midori watched this all with a confused expression. She was not aware of what had happened to the mechanical tiger she had sent to eliminate Akane many months ago, and she had no way of knowing what the name Akane was saying meant. Having watched enough of her enemy's odd tactics, Midori finally lunged forward with Gakutenou, and the pair of fighters converged on the spot where Akane was standing.

After overcoming a slight bout of surprise, Akane used her Robe to levitate directly upward into the air. Midori and Gakutenou subsequently stumbled forward together, allowing Akane to somersault over her human enemy. As the Aswad warrior spun around to face where her opponent would land, Akane used her amazing reflexes to make a rapid downward stab. Her tonfa punctured Midori's shoulder, paralyzing her opponent and allowing her an open shot when she landed. Akane promptly sent her opposite tonfa into Midori's torso, then removed both weapons when the redheaded warrior howled in agony and dropped her staff to the ground.

Midori collapsed while clutching her wounds. As shock set in and her heart slowed, her abandoned weapon disappeared from the ground and Gakutenou faded into the burning air. A few seconds later, Midori was dead, and Aswad would never be heard of again.

With her brutal mission accomplished, Akane willed her tonfa to return to her GEM and took a few seconds to stand victoriously over the remains of the barbarian village. After taking in this sight, she activated flight motors on her Robe again and began her return to Windbloom.

* * *

><p>When Akane returned, she was surprised to learn that a small group of brave Pearl Otome had invaded from Garderobe and attacked the castle in her absence. Schwarz was able to fend for itself, however. The cult's forces were made up of an army of mechanical beasts appropriately called Slaves, and these beasts were similar in design and function to the guardians Aswad had relied on. These creatures could be summoned in droves as long as Schwarz's technology could supply the energy, and they had greatly outnumbered the hostile Otome in their battle. The inexperienced girls were promptly captured and forced to deactivate their Robes.<p>

Upon receiving Akane's confirmation that Aswad had been eliminated, Archduke Nagi called for a televised conference in the basement of Castle Windbloom. During this event, Nagi unveiled the Mjolnir to the world and announced his intentions to have his Meister force all the nations of Earl to surrender to him. Members of Schwarz then brought their new prisoners to the base of the machine and, when Nagi activated his machine at its lowest setting, the world witnessed their horrifying fates. After the last screaming Pearl disappeared into green particles, the Grand Duke promised to use the weapon's full power and rid the world of all Otome soon.

When the conference ended, Nagi turned to privately speak to his bodyguard.

"Well, Akane, it looks like you'll have your way soon. The Columns have already gotten rid of most of the other countries' Meisters, Aswad is gone, and you've seen the best Garderobe has to offer. Nothing can stop you now."

The ruthless warrior simply grinned.

* * *

><p>In the lobby of a small inn somewhere in Windbloom, a young woman was watching a live feed of Nagi's announcement. The girl's dark blue hair was tied in jagged pigtails that shimmered softly in the lighting of the crowded location. Her right hand rested over a small decorative box sitting on the table in front of her, and her left hand silently clenched into a fist as the Mjolnir's ability was demonstrated.<p>

She used her right thumb to flip the top of the box open, revealing a ring and an earring that she stared at for some time. The set was entrusted to her by a close friend who had passed away a few months ago, and she silently debated over whether she was worthy to have it. After a few moments, she closed the box and placed it in a pocket in her rugged commoner blouse. She turned toward the door and quietly walked out of the inn alone.

* * *

><p>It was a cheerful spring day in Windbloom's town park. Akane sat on a bench happily chattering with a group of other girls her age. Most of the crowd was wearing various street clothes, with her being one of the only two or three girls dressed in red maid uniforms assigned by Garderobe.<p>

The group gradually shrank over time. It seemed every time a boy passed by, the number of girls talking to each other on the long bench became smaller. Sometimes one girl would quietly leave arm-in-arm with her male companion, and other times a small pack of girls would chase after a certain boy while giggling. Every day, Akane was ultimately left by herself until it was time for her to report back to the academy. This day was no different, and Akane's break would soon end.

As she observed the bright scenery around her, she noticed a handsome young man of about 15 or 16, barely older than herself, busy in his studies on a bench across the park's pathway. She knew who he was, but was far too shy to introduce herself. Maybe it was just her imagination, but it seemed this boy always came to this specific part of the park every time she was on leave, as if he was patiently waiting for her to build her courage. She had briefly even thought maybe he was just as scared as her and was secretly trying to gain his own confidence, but she decided that would have been silly. What would an important nobleman see in her, a lowly Coral with plain brown hair, brown eyes, average test scores and barely competent fighting ability? She wasn't even close to being in the top three of her class.

Akane quietly gasped to herself when she saw the boy slowly lift his eyes from the textbook on royal history he had been reading. His eyes met her own for a fleeting moment, causing a deep blush to form on her cheeks. She quickly bit her lower lip and stared into her lap to hide her nervousness. Butterflies then swarmed through her stomach when he closed the book, stood up, and began walking toward her. Before long, he stood in front of her and offered a friendly smile.

"Excuse me, madamemoiselle, but may I have this seat?"

Akane saw he was referring to the space next to her on the bench, and she instantly became starry-eyed.

"S-… sure!"

He carefully placed his study materials down and sat on the bench to face her.

"I'm sorry if I sound rude, but I couldn't help but notice something seems to be bothering you. Is anything wrong?"

She shook her head while smiling when she replied.

"I'm fine. And you can call me Akane."

The boy gently took her right hand and lightly kissed it on the back. The butterflies in Akane's stomach now flew up to her heart.

"It's a pleasure to meet you, Akane. I'm Kazuya."

Akane noticed something about his speech and actions seemed stilted, as if he was reciting what he had learned from some sort of courting manual. Perhaps her brief assumption that he was unsure of what to do in this situation himself was true after all, but she still thought she was being too hopeful.

"I know. You're from the Krau-xeku family, right? They say you could be the Emperor of Chaldea one day."

Kazuya seemed to frown slightly, as if this fact bothered him somehow.

"Yeah, I'm part of the imperial line. It's in a roundabout sort of way, though. I'm only studying to be an adviser right now. It would basically take a war to get me on the throne in my lifetime. I hope the world stays at peace and that never happens, though."

He suddenly looked down in disappointment.

"I doubt I'm fit to be any sort of leader, anyway."

When he raised his head, Akane gave him a cheerful smile and spoke in a bubbly tone to boost his confidence.

"Don't say that! If it ever happens, everyone will be counting on you, Kazu!"

Akane blushed out of embarrassment and turned her head slightly away after accidentally calling Kazuya by the shortened name she had given him.

"Umm... do you mind if I call you that?"

Kazuya only jokingly laughed before replying.

"That's fine, Akane. If anything, I kind of like that nickname."

When Akane glanced toward him again, the red in her cheeks slowly faded. Kazuya soon spoke again.

"So, are you sure there's nothing bothering you?"

Akane's voice became softer now, and her words timidly left her mouth.

"Well, actually, Kazu…"

She became quieter still as she continued.

"I've been watching you for a while, and I just want you to know I… I kind of like you…"

After her words trailed off, she laughed nervously and her voice returned to normal.

"I'm sorry. I must sound so weird. I've never done this sort of thing before."

In the next moment, Akane felt her heart skip a beat as one of Kazuya's hands rested affectionately over her own in her lap. She then heard him speak in the same shy tone she was using seconds earlier.

"I haven't either, Akane."

Akane instantly understood what his words meant. She did nothing to hide the small tears of happiness growing in the corners of her eyes.

"You mean you…?"

Kazuya answered with a simple friendly nod.

"You're the first one I've ever wanted to be together with, Akane."

His voice's original strength now returned.

"Would you like to discuss this over dinner sometime?"

Akane nodded vigorously.

"That would be great, Kazu."

Akane and Kazuya spent the next few minutes discussing how they would meet. They were careful to consider Akane's busy training schedule, but were soon able to find ample time to spend together. When their first meeting ended, the two new acquaintances parted their separate ways feeling much more complete in life.

Akane looked forward to the next time she would see Kazuya with innocent enthusiasm, and she now had the inspiration to work hard in her studies. She would become a strong Otome, for him.

And trying to be a strong Otome was what got him killed.

Akane's eyes abruptly fluttered open and stared at the dresser in her darkened bedroom in Windbloom's castle. She had been dreaming of how she had first met Kazuya many years ago, and it felt like her own mind was beginning to torture her. She began trembling, causing her to greedily pull the covers on her bed closer to her chest. As she remained in silence, she felt tears begin to fill her eyes. She quickly stopped herself from weeping by roughly squeezing her eyelids shut.

In only a few more hours, Nagi would use his invention to end the War of the Five Columns. The only thing Akane could calm herself with was the fact all the Otome in the world would soon share the pain she felt.

* * *

><p>Archduke Nagi sat on Windbloom's throne monitoring an ornate pocket watch in his hand as he sighed in boredom. Akane was standing by his side wearing the Broken Heart Malachite Robe, and the muffled sounds of intense combat and shells bursting on the ground were heard coming through the closed doors of the empty throne room. Outside of the castle, Garderobe's disorganized forces and the few countries of the world still left with Otome had frantically formed a single front to make a pathetic final strike against Schwarz. The invading army was currently falling into a stalemate against Nagi's Slaves.<p>

After a few more seconds, Nagi's boredom abruptly ended and a sinister smile crossed his lips. He closed the pocket watch and placed it in his dark imperial uniform before standing up. He then yawned before speaking.

"Well, it looks like it's about time to end this."

Suddenly, the large double doors in the front of the throne room were blown apart in a vibrant explosion. Out of the rubble came two figures ready to challenge Nagi and his bloodthirsty Otome.

The first figure was a Meister Otome dressed in a green and blue Robe, holding a golden lance that was shaped roughly like a large tuning fork. Beside her was her impromptu contract master, a blonde-haired man wearing a nobleman's outfit and bearing a signature scar between his eyebrows. He was a veteran who had lost most of his memory as a result of injuries he sustained in the previous war Nagi had caused, and he had been living a simple life in a rural area with his new Meister before fighting broke out again. Against his protector's objections, he had insisted he should come with her in person after he agreed to sponsor her for this battle. He had done so out of a moral imperative he couldn't completely explain himself, and his Otome finally caved in to his conditions when he reminded her these were potentially the last few hours they would be alive.

The Archduke of Artai reacted with brief surprise to this intrusion. He spoke when his plotting grin returned.

"Oh. Welcome back, Nina."

The silver-haired monarch snickered upon studying the Otome's Robe.

"So Mashiro gave the Neptune Emerald to you? I figured she had pawned that dusty old thing off before she died."

He turned toward her colleague.

"And you got some banged up amnesiac to be your master? You guys must really be desperate."

Nina Wang firmly gripped her staff in both hands. Her eyes briefly looked toward Schwarz's Otome before they glared back at Nagi.

"What did you do to Akane, Nagi? Can't you ever do anything without brainwashing one of us to help you?"

Nagi smirked in jest.

"I haven't done anything to this Otome except give her the ability to do what she always wanted to do."

He closed his eyes and slowly shook his head.

"Besides, it's not my fault Garderobe insists on using weak-minded women to fight the world's wars. My methods simply expose the flaws of such a system."

Akane remained silent as Nagi spoke, never changing her icy demeanor. Nagi now sneered toward his challengers.

"Speaking of which, have you visited Erstin's grave lately, Nina? I still haven't thanked her for how easily her sacrifice reduced you to a puppet."

The blue-haired Meister's temper suddenly flared at these words, but she was quickly calmed when her master stepped in front of her and spoke.

"Listen, Nagi. I may not remember a lot about you, but I have no trouble figuring out I've always hated you."

The archduke simply scratched his head as he replied.

"Ah, Sergei. I see you're make great progress in regaining your old habit of being an insolent fool. I should have finished you off the last time I had the chance."

The Schwarz leader snapped his fingers, and Akane silently stepped forward and shot a sinister glare toward her enemies before summoning her tonfa at her sides. Nagi continued speaking as she positioned herself for battle.

"I'll have that mistake corrected this time."

He turned and began walking toward the doorway that led to the lower quarters of the castle.

"I'm going to start up Mjolnir, Akane. Keep these ruffians tied up so everything goes off without a hitch."

His Otome answered his commands coldly.

"As you wish, my lord."

When Nagi safely disappeared into the shadows of the hallway leading to the castle basement, Akane turned back toward Nina and Sergei with sadistic intent.

Nina suddenly felt conflicted over what to do next. She was now rapidly running out of time, and the lives of every Otome on the planet, down to the youngest Corals who had hardly learned to fend for themselves, were at stake. However, she felt deeply sympathetic for Akane, as the sight of the troubled girl reminded Nina much of herself when she had been manipulated into serving Nagi in the previous war. She was nearly certain Akane had been tragically toyed with just as she had been, and she believed Akane couldn't be entirely responsible for the things she had done for Schwarz.

To Nina, killing Akane without a second thought would be like killing a reflection of herself. It would be the ultimate form of hypocrisy, as Nina was only alive thanks to the second chance her close friends had given her. If she were quickly able to help Akane come back to her senses, it was possible the misguided Otome could join her side and increase the chances of the invasion forces stopping Nagi's horrible plan.

Nina carefully made her next move against Akane.

* * *

><p>Fight her: Go to Chapter 42<p>

Reason with her: Go to Chapter 43


	42. Chapter 42

The pigtailed Meister buried her doubts and readied herself for battle. She had decided there was no time left for personal sympathy.

Nina let out a desperate battle cry as she used the Neptune Emerald Robe's flight drives to propel herself toward her rival. She held her lance in both hands at her side, and Akane responded by standing in place and crossing her metallic tonfa in front of her to firmly hold her ground. When Nina's lance clashed against Akane's defensive wall, she pushed with all of her strength in hopes of staggering Akane and opening a path to Mjolnir's control room.

As the attacking Otome poured all of her effort into one goal, Akane easily took the advantage and interrupted Nina with a harsh knee to the chest. As Nina painfully exhaled and stumbled back, Akane swiftly directed the blade of one tonfa into Nina's gut and the other through the armor around her neck. The blades of the second tonfa pierced Nina's throat, and the brown-haired fighter's face glowed with demonic delight as she pushed both of her weapons further into Nina's flesh. The fatally injured Meister dropped her lance and cried out in pain.

Sergei suddenly winced and grasped his own body in the same spots his Otome had been wounded, and Nina's weapon quickly disappeared from the ground. Before long, both master and Otome collapsed lifelessly to the ground at Akane's feet. The two bodies disappeared together in a flurry of sparkling green particles as the victor smiled softly. The world's last trump card against Schwarz had failed.

Knowing the end was only moments away, Akane quietly walked toward the opening Nina had blasted through Castle Windbloom's doors so she could take a front row seat to the battle outside. She became overwhelmed in excitement when she saw Schwarz's many Slaves suddenly pull back and hover harmlessly in the air. The armies of Otome on the ground and lower in the air reacted in collective terror toward this mysterious happening, and Akane knew it could mean only one thing.

As each girl was engulfed in the invisible energy wave created by Mjolnir, the doomed warriors dropped their arms in unison and began writhing in pain. The dark feline ears on Akane's hairband twitched slightly as their sensitive microphones listened to the agonized cries of Otome who had been fighting as far as several miles away from Castle Windbloom.

These Otome were all now feeling the same pain that had haunted Akane since the day she joined Schwarz. They had fought as hard as they could, only to find out their efforts were worthless and they couldn't prevent the deaths of the masters they had devoted themselves to. The bloodcurdling screams of hundreds of young girls' hearts suddenly stopping or exploding caused Akane to close her eyes and purr softly in comfort.

"Mmm..."

Several Slaves remained hovering in the air to monitor for any potential survivors, but Mjolnir's effect proved to be flawless. The resulting plumes of green mist that filled the valleys around Castle Windbloom as the girls' nanomachines simultaneously incinerated themselves were like fireworks celebrating a great victory to Akane. When this unearthly fog faded, the war was over.

Most of the world's governments were practically dismantled with the loss of their leaders and their ability to fight Schwarz, and Nagi's domination came swiftly and easily. Garderobe was quickly torn down, and all of its abandoned equipment was destroyed without hesitation. After Nagi proclaimed himself as the new world leader, Akane always stood by his side with an expression of cold contempt, and she was quick to butcher anyone who so much as glanced at her master impolitely. When she wasn't fighting, she was satisfied in simply knowing the world was being subjected to the Archduke's tyrannical rule.

To meet his masculine needs, Nagi supplied himself with a harem of nubile young women selected from the best his empire had to offer. After a suitable amount of time had passed, he then recruited a new generation of concubines for his entertainment. Many of these new girls were younger sisters of Otome who had lost their lives at the end of the War of the Five Columns and, had Garderobe's system still been in place in these days, they very likely would have followed in their siblings' footsteps. To Nagi, however, he was simply providing these young women with the career they were best suited for. His children were many, and his appetite was monumental.

Akane continued to serve as Schwarz's ruthless Otome for the rest of her days. She guarded Nagi unquestioningly both when he was taking care of business and "taking care of business." Her wounded heart would never discover love again, and the only thing she would ever receive from men after this point were terrified screams and begs for mercy.

THE END.


	43. Chapter 43

Nina eased her battle position slightly while still keeping herself alert. She spoke toward Akane in a gentler voice than she had used when she was arguing with Nagi.

"Akane, I don't hate you for what happened to Arika and Mashiro. I don't know if the Columns forced you to fight them, or if you blamed Mashiro for war breaking out again and thought Kazuya would make a better ruler…"

Her attention briefly turned toward the silent Sergei before returning to Akane.

"…but I understand you only went through with it because you wanted to protect him."

Nina lowered her head briefly as she tried to keep her emotions in order. Her voice then became more forceful as she conveyed her desperation.

"But now you're going too far! Don't make the same mistake I almost made! Helping Nagi get his way and killing all of us won't solve anything!"

Akane's expression remained void of all sympathy. Having heard enough of Nina's speech, she launched herself toward her enemy with a heated battle cry. Nina immediately raised her staff in a defensive position to block Akane's oncoming attack. When the two fighters met in the center of Windbloom's throne room, Akane's tonfa clashed against the pole of Nina's lance. Both girls pushed their weapons against each other with equal strength as Akane shouted.

"I don't care, Nina! Kazu would still be alive if the world hadn't allowed Otome to exist! They have to be punished for what they did, and I don't care how I have to do it!"

The blue-haired Meister was barely able to hold her position. Her lance rattled in her hands as she responded.

"It doesn't matter who killed him, Akane! What matters is that you make his death mean something by being strong and making sure nothing like it happens again! Selling yourself to Nagi is only making things worse!"

Akane gasped softly as her brown eyes widened. Nina could feel her opposition slightly give way as she continued.

"Please, think about what you're doing! Do you really want Kazuya to be remembered as the reason all these Otome were murdered and that monster was allowed to drag the world to Hell? There are better ways to honor his memory!"

Akane's aggression now gave out entirely, and Nina pulled her lance back when her opponent's twin weapons clattered to the ground. Schwarz's Meister stepped a few paces backwards as she questioned herself in horror.

"What… am I doing…?"

She lowered her head in shame, and her eyes began to grow wet.

"Kazu, what have I done?"

She collapsed onto all fours and began wailing as tears streamed down her face. As Nina and Sergei patiently watched and waited, Akane made no effort to mask her pain and openly wept in a way she hadn't done since the day her beloved king died. In the midst of her sorrow, she tried to apologize for the suffering she had already caused in his name.

"Kazu, I'm so sorry!"

After her cries naturally stifled, Akane slowly lifted her head and stared forward. All emotion was now gone from her eyes. She held neither malice nor compassion, and all she had the motivation to do was hopelessly wish her lover was still with her.

"Kazu…"

Suddenly, a friendly hand reached down to lift her out of her fog. She looked up to see Nina and Sergei gazing back down toward her with warm smiles, with Nina extending her open palm as she spoke softly.

"It's okay, Akane. Just because he's gone doesn't mean you can't still fight for him."

Nina's smile brightened as she invited Akane to take her hand, and energy soon returned to the enlightened warrior's eyes. She slowly gripped Nina's hand, and her former rival helped her back to her feet. After she stood up, she briefly looked away in shame.

"Nina, I..."

As Akane visibly doubted herself, Nina spoke again to offer her support.

"Come on. Let's stop Nagi for good this time."

Akane's look of uncertainty changed to a determined glare with these words. She gave a solid nod as she replied.

"I'll take you to where he's keeping his weapon. I might be able to shut it down."

She bent down to lift her tonfa back into her hands, then turned her attention to the doorway the Archduke had exited moments earlier.

When the two Meisters propelled through Castle Windbloom's basement passageway, they were met by a group of Slaves that were serving as Nagi's final defensive line. Akane and Nina began fighting through them, side-by-side, with Sergei following close behind.

* * *

><p>When Akane, Nina, and Sergei finally reached the Mjolnir, they found the nightmarish device surrounded by several of Nagi's staff and emitting a loud humming sound that gradually increased in pitch. Every Schwarz member other than the Archduke himself quickly fled once they saw two Otome had broken into the room, and the cult leader glared in anger upon seeing his Meister had betrayed him. His usual clever smirk soon returned, however, and he quickly placed himself in front of his invention and shouted with his arms outstretched.<p>

"You're too late! Mjolnir has already been activated! My vision will become reality only minutes from now!"

The trio had split apart by now, with Akane placing her tonfa back into stasis before running to Mjolnir's main control console and typing in various commands on its keyboard. At the same time, while Sergei stood by the doorway leading out of the chamber, Nina approached Nagi and promptly leveled the maniacal dictator with a swift punch to the face. She then spoke in an annoyed tone.

"Shut up, Nagi."

As Akane was busy trying to find Mjolnir's disarming protocol, Nina took her staff into both hands and pointed the open end toward the doomsday weapon's core. Energy began to collect between the two prongs, and Nina would soon be able to fire a concentrated blast in hopes of destroying the terrifying invention.

Akane's eyes suddenly went wide as she read something on the monitor in front of her. She desperately shouted toward her female colleague.

"Don't do it, Nina!"

The energy Nina had been concentrating quickly dissipated, and she looked over her shoulder before responding.

"What's wrong?"

Akane spoke with horror in her voice.

"Nagi rigged it so it will automatically go off if it's damaged!"

The young warlord groggily lifted himself back to his feet as Akane spoke. After wiping away a thin trickle of blood from a cut on his lower lip, he taunted his enemies for their futile effort.

"That's right, ladies. If any part of the Mjolnir is destroyed, the remaining components go off by default. My ring also has an emergency backup of the control system, and the same thing will happen if you kill me now that it's activated. At its current charge, it's already powerful enough to create an energy field that would cover most of Windbloom. Unless you three can think of a way to destroy my ring, Mjolnir's core, AND all of the pillar relays within the same millisecond, all of those little girls outside are doomed."

Akane, Nina, and Sergei all gasped in disbelief at this revelation. Nagi's face warped into a demonic grin when he spoke again.

"Checkmate."

He then extended his left hand so the black imperial signet faced his Otome.

"Now, Akane, I suppose you can see your last minute rebellion has been in vain. There's nothing you can do to save the other Otome. However, if you behave from now on, maybe I'll decide to still employ you. How will you ever avenge poor Kazu's death without me?"

Akane looked downward as she thought to herself. She then quietly left the computer console and began a long, torturous journey back to the cult leader's side. She replied weakly with her head hanging low.

"Yes, Master."

Nina felt crushed when Akane did this. It appeared she had vastly underestimated the depth of Akane's emotional wounds, and she could do nothing but feel the utmost pity for her partner. She sulked as she quietly spoke.

"Akane, no..."

When Akane's charade had allowed her to get close enough to Nagi, she violently reached toward him and twisted around him, much to the surprise of everyone in the room. She now stood with her chest against his back, with her right arm wrapped around his torso and her left hand keeping his ring arm outstretched by the wrist. Nagi shouted in shock.

"What the…?!"

As her captive began vainly struggling against her Robe-augmented strength, Akane shouted toward her comrades with full conviction in her voice.

"Nina, Sergei! Get out of here! I'm going to make sure this bastard won't be able to hurt anyone else!"

Akane's left thumb suddenly pressed against Nagi's ring at an awkward angle. At the same moment, the Broken Heart Malachite earring emitted a short, shrill beep that everyone in the room could hear, and the metal insets on Akane's Robe began to glow with unusual red bands of light.

Nina and Sergei both knew what these events meant. Akane was determined to use something rarely even spoken of in Garderobe's classes as a last resort to stop Nagi's terrible creation. It was a feature intended to guarantee a Materialized Otome would never abuse her powers against her master's wishes, and it came with grave consequences to the offending Otome if her master was willing to sacrifice himself or herself to enforce them. Akane had used Nagi's contract ring to activate her own GEM's self-destruct mechanism.

Nina could barely bring herself to speak.

"She… can't be serious…"

Nagi's squirming continued as he screamed to his Otome.

"Release me, you stupid wench!"

Sergei stepped forward and begged Akane to stand down.

"Akane, stop it! Let Nina and me do this! Just deactivate your Robe and make a run for it! You have to live on, for King Kazuya's sake!"

Akane winced as the increasingly unstable energy coursing from her GEM began creating small bolts of electricity around her. She then replied to Sergei with more force in her voice than ever.

"This IS for his sake!"

Tears began streaming down her face. Nina and Sergei could both see she was straining to gather the courage for what she was about to do.

"I don't want to die, but if I'm not the one who does this, I'd just be letting more people be killed in his name! You two have your own lives to live!"

Nina couldn't help but feel like she was sacrificing her friend to selfishly spare herself, but she knew Akane was right. She willed her lance to disappear from her hand and solemnly approached Sergei's side before quietly speaking.

"Let's go, Sergei."

The nobleman nodded regretfully before allowing his Otome to hoist him into her arms. The two then turned to Akane before Nina spoke.

"Okay, Akane. We'll leave everything to you."

Despite her suffering, Akane was able to briefly smile as she watched Nina and Sergei safely fly out of the castle basement. She was now alone with her wicked leader, who soon began to squeal for mercy as he considered his own demise.

"Akane, ple-… please, let me go! I'll turn off Mjolnir! I swear, I'll turn it off!"

She ignored the villain's hollow promises, and only looked slightly upward and softly spoke to her true master.

"Please forgive me, Kazu…"

At the exact instant her GEM reached the end of its countdown and beeped a final time, Akane's watering eyes saw something that removed all of her fear and pain. It was a vision of her smiling lover, awaiting her with open arms.

* * *

><p>Nina and Sergei reached the royal entranceway just as the rear half of Castle Windbloom erupted in a spectacular explosion. Two thin streams of vibrant green particles could be seen floating into the air and disappearing along with the colossal fireball. Akane had successfully destroyed the Mjolnir and all of Schwarz's resources, and the Slaves on the battlefield quickly disappeared as a result.<p>

One of the Meister Otome who had been fighting near the castle approached Nina and Sergei. This young woman sighed in relief before speaking.

"You did great, Nina! You saved us!"

Nina silently looked toward the smoke rising from the castle with damp eyes, then replied.

"No, Akane saved us."

The girl blinked in confusion.

"Akane?"

Nina never took her eyes off the burning ruins when she responded to the Meister's inquiry.

"It's a long story."

* * *

><p>Schwarz permanently dissolved after this battle. Their leader was gone, as was virtually all of their motivation. With the world at peace, the people of Windbloom then began rebuilding their castle and searching for their new monarch. There was little debate over who the throne should go to, and Nina eventually accepted the role of Queen after receiving Sergei's support.<p>

Queen Nina's first official decision was a monumental one. With a heavy heart, she recounted the amount of tragedy and bloodshed that had occurred throughout the recent years as a result of her country's involvement in the Otome system, and announced she would not be recruiting an Otome of her own. Garderobe was eventually reopened to the public, however, and the queen played an active part in the long process of reforming the school.

History regarded Akane Soir, the Pure Heart Malachite, as the final Meister of Windbloom. Although the atrocities Akane had committed as a member of Schwarz prevented her from being widely recognized as a war hero, Nina was quick to scold anyone who spoke ill of her fallen comrade in her presence. The queen's account of what had actually transpired the day the War of the Five Columns ended would be carefully passed down within the royal family for generations to come.

THE END.

[closing track: "Muv-Luv (2006 ver.)" by Minami Kuribayashi]


End file.
